Proud to be a Californian.

It's a given that as a California girl through and through, I have a dislike for rain, a taste for flip-flops year round, and the need to be within 10 miles of the ocean. As much as I take it for granted, once in awhile something is brought to my attention that makes me realize how lucky I am to live in the state that I do. Here are two snippets of articles that make me damn proud to be a Cali girl (Play "we got more bounce in California than all yours combined..." in your mind).

1st article:
New York Times 7/17/08
For Pelosi, a Fight Against Offshore Drilling

"Upon entering Congress in 1987, Representative Nancy Pelosi quickly became part of the solid California front against oil drilling along much of the nation’s coast.

The Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969 and the steady push to tap the potential reserves off the state’s rugged coast had galvanized Californians and made opposition to offshore drilling part of the political DNA of up-and-coming figures like Ms. Pelosi...

She attributes today’s energy problems to a failure of the Bush administration to develop a comprehensive approach, to its ties to the oil industry and to a mishandling of the economy."

This article describes how my girl Pelosi (first female Speaker of the House and a fellow San Franciscan) has been willing to let her personal opinions on controversial matters be compromised slightly in order to achieve resolution in the House. Offshore drilling is not one of those matters, however. Political leaders from California have been pushing this case for decades and as the top Californian in Washington, Pelosi is in the position of being able to stop a offshore drilling bill from reaching the floor. It seems that with Pelosi in the position she is, the money-hungry Republicans won't be able to get their hands on the limited, possibly out-of-reach oil reserves. I feel better knowing that this California women has all of our best (long-term) interests at heart and wants to pursue more efficient and less damaging means of energy production.



2nd article courtesy of Evan O'Donnell.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7494640.stm
This one is short and a good, light-hearted read. Gotta love San Francisco...