Political power is no longer enough.

A West Side grower writes a post on the TheHill, bemoaning Congress’s lack of action.  (I should say that the author has been personally generous to me, a couple times.)  Most of the post is the standard advocacy position of West Side growers, which we are familiar with.  I’m more interested in what the post reveals about political power: that it isn’t enough anymore.  Political power without the backing of Science or popular support cannot move these bills.  Maybe all three are required, I don’t know.  But all of their access (testifying before Congress, toady Representatives, expensive lobbyists) isn’t getting the job done for the West Side growers.

Further, that kind of political power is all they have to throw at this problem.  Look:

Absolutely nothing is no longer acceptable. Congress needs to pass legislation that solves this decades-long problem. If they do not, absolutely nothing is what they should expect from us in return.

I’m not in those circles, so I can only guess what that means.  That wealthy West Side growers will give politicians less money?  Won’t host SJV fundraisers?  No using their small planes to get around?  I only speculate.   But they cannot buttress their demands with anything from the other realms of power.  They do not say: we will PROVE that Temperance Flats provides cost-effective water.  Our scientists will PROVE that the problems in the Delta are from Sacramento’s regional sanitation district.  TWENTY THOUSAND MILLION people will Tweet that they love us.  They don’t have those forms of power, so they can’t exercise them.  They have literally all the political access and power that money can buy, but that kind of power alone is no longer enough to convert their preferred policies to laws.  How frustrating for them.