The Laws Don't Apply to Us Because We're the Good Guys

It was amusing when the town of Woodside attempted to forbid denser housing by declaring itself to be a habitat for endangered mountain lions. Unfortunately for those who enjoy a good debate, Woodside quickly caved in the face of a stern rebuke from the California Attorney General.

It's not a problem for UC-Berkeley to tear down this
112-year-old rent controlled building to build more
housing because the cause is noble.

In a similar manner California's strict environmental law has delayed the construction of faculty and student housing on or near State campuses. The delays have been so severe that UC-Berkeley has been forced to freeze enrollment. The Progressives' solution is not to repeal or amend the law for everyone but to carve out an exception for their own pet projects. [bold added]

State Sen. Scott Wiener says a housing and homelessness crisis on California’s college campuses has become so dire that the state needs to add a major exemption to its premier environmental law to speed up construction.

Wiener is expected to unveil a bill Tuesday that would streamline housing projects by allowing the UC, CSU and community college systems to skip the lengthy review process required under the California Environmental Quality Act.

Environmental laws are fine if they stymie greedy real estate developers and filthy industry. But if mountain lions get in the way of utopian dreams of denser housing in Woodside or if there's a little noise or smoke from developing land for public education (don't you dare try this, Stanford), let's get the Attorney General or a friendly judge or a veto-proof legislature to say the law doesn't apply to us Progressives.

We're the good guys!