Just when Stella was getting' her Groove back......

Last winter, I reported on losing the right to burn firewood in your own fireplace, thanks to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. (see "You Have Lost the Right to Stay Warm," December 2008, blog.kstreetcommunications.com/2008/12/22/you-have-lost-the-right-to-stay-warm.aspx).

This means that as temperatures dip into the 20s this week, underprivileged families, the elderly, and at-risk residents who don't have heat are being told by the Air Management District (...god, that sounds like something straight out of Orwell, doesn't it?) that their plain 'ol firewood contains "dangerous particulate matter" and produces "unhealthy levels of pollution."  All of this, according to strict standards set by the EPA.

Wait...the EPA?  Yep, the EPA. That EPA. The same EPA that suggested this week that the air you exhale is considered a dangerous form of carbon dioxide, along with other dangerous vessels such as your car.

So, let me make sure I've got this straight. Californians have lost the right to stay warm inside our own homes, AND now we've lost the right to simply exhale?

I don't know about you, but that's enough to send Stella packing for Jamaica.

Want to stop this madness? Join the effort to STOP more intrusive government control over the very air you breathe. Visit www.suspendAB32.org to find out how we can stop California's over-reaching version of Cap and Tax.