iePolitics: Job Killing California Air Resources Board Rules Have Local Connections

San Bernardino County’s past continues to haunt us.  It is not corruption, at least not exactly, but we find that yet another former Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is making news.  This time we have to go back even further than Jerry Eaves to find the culprit.

Barbara Cram Riordan, a 1961 University of Redlands graduate, served on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors from 1983 until her third full term ended in 1996. Prior to her stint with the County of San Bernardino, she served on the Redlands City Council for four years.

Riordan was appointed to the California Air Resources Board in 1991 by then-Governor Pete Wilson, reappointed in 1999 by  former-Governor Gray Davis and again in 2004 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  She served as Chairman of the Air Resources Board twice for short periods of time.  She has also previously served on the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District Board of Directors.

So what does all of this have to do with killing jobs and scandal you might ask?  Has anyone been listening to KFI640′s John and Ken of late?  If not, you are missing out.

First of all, you missed our very own San Bernardino County First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt’s appearance on the show this past Thursday.  He discussed Attorney General Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown’s lawsuit against the County of San Bernardino where Moonbeam declared in 2007 that the county had not fully addressed “global warming” in its revised General Plan.   That lawsuit was quickly settled and Brown looked like the wacko he is.  Mitzelfelt did a good job of presenting the issues.

But a much more interesting battle is being undertaken by the Southland’s most-listened-to radio duo.  If we didn’t know it already, we are learning that California is governed by wingnuts, wackos, crackpots, lunatics, and screwballs.

Take for example the column written by Ken Hunter, candidate for the 59th Assembly District, regarding tire air pressure we published a few weeks ago.  Go to jail for not having ones tires properly inflated.   Then there is the member of the legislature that wants to outlaw free parking . . . like the kind you get at the mall, grocery stores, and restaurants.  That will help Califorina’s businesses for sure.  But that is just the beginning.

Thanks to a brave journalist for The Bakersfield Californian, we have learned that honesty is not a high priority for CARB.  It seems CARB commissioned a report by researcher Hien Tran who lied about his credentials and used less-than-scientific methods in his research and findings to justify creation of stringent diesel admission rules that will cost trucking firms billions of dollars and cripple their businesses.

And none other than our very own Barbara Riordan has sided with the liberal majority in not only creating a hostile business environment for many of California’s largest and high-paying employers, but also in covering up the fraudulent research and findings.

The trucking industry is vital to San Bernardino County’s economy and that of the entire Inland Empire.  Riordan’s initial appointment to the California Air Resources Board was the result of her position on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors where she was elected to serve the best interests of her constituents.  If it wasn’t for the confidence and trust placed in her by the conservative voters of Redlands, San Bernardino, Yucaipa and Highland, she would not be a part of CARB.  She has betrayed that trust by aiding and abetting in a cover-up that could, and still may, cost Californians billions in retrofitting costs and lost jobs.  That is just what we need in this state and Riordan is just what we need representing our best interests in Sacramento—not!

Editor’s Note:  This is part one of a multi-part series about the negative impact of CARB on Californians.  If you have additional information or would like to write a column on this subject, please email me at sharon@iepolitics.com.