Studying California

No target seems too large or formidable for Ralph Nader's lance. The latest to feel its thrust is the state of California. A team headed by the energetic consumer advocate has completed a 15-month study of the anatomy of California's land and water resources and political power. The findings are disturbing. According to the report, the nation's most fecund state is virtually controlled by a closely knit power structure that is systematically stripping California's resources for immense profits. The report claims that a mere 25 landowners--24 of them corporations--hold 13% of all private land and that many of these holdings were illegally acquired. The charges are tenuous, since they are based on the shadowy history of 19th century land grants.

Although Robert C. Fellmeth, director of the project, insists that he was not deliberately trying to "go after" Governor Ronald Reagan, the report made a point of the fact that some of the owners it cited were heavy contributors to the Governor's campaign chest. These same corporations may also receive lavish tax benefits. The report was especially critical of such state projects as a mammoth scheme currently underway to transfer water from the northern part of the state to the dryer south.

The project will cost half a billion dollars more than the state's original estimate. A few major corporate landholders in the San Joaquin Valley will reap extraordinary gains from the project, receiving irrigation water well below cost while Los Angeles-area homeowners pay a disproportionately high share of the bill. Also, the report said, unwanted housing developments are going up on good farm land. It concluded that nothing short of convening federal and state grand juries to look into the "mass breakdown in law" could right the extravagant wrongs being done to California.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.