After more than a century of trouble-free operations, Barky's Ken Salazar has ordered Drakes Bay Oyster Company to pack up and leave, and take their jobs with them.
The National Park Service intends to turn the 2,700-acre area into the first federally designated marine wilderness area on the West Coast, giving the estuary special protected status as an unaltered ecological region.
A century of operation, providing homes and jobs to 30 people as one of the last oyster ranches in California - gone.
Of course, acolytes of doomsday author Rachel Carson are overjoyed:
the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Wilderness Society and the Marin Audubon Society applauded the decision.
Others are less than enthused:
"This is a good organic food source in our backyard," said Sarah Cane, 48, of San Rafael. "We can co-exist. A department head in Washington, D.C., shouldn't be able to tell this community it can't eat oysters."
"I am extremely disappointed," Feinstein said Thursday in a statement. "The National Park Service's review process has been flawed from the beginning with false and misleading science, which was also used in the Environmental Impact Statement. The secretary's decision effectively puts this historic California oyster farm out of business. As a result, the farm will be forced to cease operations and 30 Californians will lose their jobs."
Salazar claims that cows will be allowed to stay. Oddly, Feinstein's right, and Salazar's wrong. Who'd have seen that coming?
And speaking of wrong decisions with profound economic consequences, our good friends at EPA have struck again:
Pushed by ethanol producers, the EPA approved the use of E15 -- a 15% ethanol-gasoline blend -- in June over objections from automakers and the oil industry.
This may be the first time that AAA has ever publicly taken the stance that EPA should immediately reverse course:
The AAA says the Environmental Protection Agency and gasoline retailers should halt the sale of E15, a new ethanol blend that could damage millions of vehicles and void car warranties.
E-10's bad enough; most small engines can't handle it, so regular non-E is commonly dispensed around marinas - one of the few areas where EPA hasn't mandated (yet) that E-10 be used. For most of us, E-10 just cuts down on our gas mileage; requiring more frequent fill-ups (while funneling more "fuel tax" cash to the government).