SURFLINER INN PROJECT: ANOTHER CARPINTERIA HOTEL HELD HOSTAGE BY THE CLIMATE CABAL

KEYT NewsChannel 3-12, ever the purveyor of local administrative drama, reports on the latest saga unfolding in Carpinteria: the Surfliner Inn project is apparently under 'environmental scrutiny.' In other words, a perfectly reasonable proposal to build a hotel, create jobs, and stimulate the local economy is being ritually sacrificed at the altar of California's green-obsessed bureaucracy.

We all know the drill. A developer dares to propose something that might actually benefit the community, and suddenly every unkempt tree and misplaced worm becomes a federally protected species. The 'Environmental Impact Report' for the Surfliner Inn is now online, no doubt a tome of speculative doom penned by consultants paid handsomely to find problems that don't exist. It's a miracle anything gets built in this state, especially when the self-appointed guardians of the gnat-sized endangered species are constantly holding projects hostage.

What KEYT won't tell you, because it's too busy dutifully reporting the official line, is the real 'impact' of this endless scrutiny: higher costs, delayed construction, and ultimately, fewer jobs and less tax revenue for Carpinteria. While the rest of the nation, under President Trump's wise leadership, is unleashing economic growth and energy independence, our local progressive planning commissions are still stuck in 2018, wringing their hands over carbon footprints that couldn't power a flashlight. The only 'impact' these reviews have is on our wallets and our dwindling patience with central planners who seemingly prefer tumbleweeds to thriving businesses.

Meanwhile, the same folks hyperventilating over a new hotel's supposed 'impact' rarely question the carbon footprint of their own organic kale deliveries or the private jet jaunts to climate conferences. The hypocrisy is as rich as the ocean views these hotels promise to paying guests – if they ever get built, that is. Maybe Carpinteria should just put up a sign: 'Closed for Environmental Impact Review, Please Come Back in 2050.'