Oh Wyoming, What Have You Done?

[Commodore]

You know, I was trying to think of something to write about this, but I think it would be best if the article just spoke for itself:

Imagine visiting Yellowstone this summer. You wake up before dawn to take a picture of the sunrise over the mists emanating from Yellowstone hot springs. A thunderhead towers above the rising sun, and the picture turns out beautifully. You submit the photo to a contest sponsored by the National Weather Service. Under a statute signed into law by the Wyoming governor this spring, you have just committed a crime and could face up to one year in prison.


Wyoming doesn’t, of course, care about pictures of geysers or photo competitions. But photos are a type of data, and the new law makes it a crime to gather data about the condition of the environment across most of the state if you plan to share that data with the state or federal government. The reason? The state wants to conceal the fact that many of its streams are contaminated by E. coli bacteria, strains of which can cause serious health problems, even death. A small organization called Western Watersheds Project (which I represent pro bono in an unrelated lawsuit) has found the bacteria in a number of streams crossing federal land in concentrations that violate water quality standards under the federal Clean Water Act. Rather than engaging in an honest public debate about the cause or extent of the problem, Wyoming prefers to pretend the problem doesn’t exist. And under the new law, the state threatens anyone who would challenge that belief by producing information to the contrary with a term in jail.

So the state of Wyoming would rather conceal the fact that there is a potentially deadly disease in much of its water supply by imprisoning people, than actually do something about the disease in their water supply?

Now why would a state do this? Oh because of money and politics, that's why:

Why the desire for ignorance rather than informed discussion? The reason is pure politics. The source of E. coli is clear. It comes from cows spending too much time in and next to streams. Acknowledging that fact could result in rules requiring ranchers who graze their cows on public lands to better manage their herds. The ranching community in Wyoming wields considerable political power and has no interest in such obligations, so the state is trying to stop the flow of information rather than forthrightly address the problem.

So the ranchers don't want to have to spend the money on methods to better manage their herds to keep them from spreading their diseases throughout the water that people are supposed to be drinking.

I swear, my faith in humanity is just about a hair's width away from being completely destroyed.

Link to article

 

[Phrossack]

I give up.

 

[Commodore]

Apparently so has the rest of CFC.

 

[Farm Boy]

I don't know what to tell you Commodore. I would hardly be shocked that a state government would seek to silence critics of friends of people in power. Illinois has an infatuation with trying to make the recording of police officers on duty a felony. Over and over again. Maybe one of these days the courts will forget to toss it out. But meanwhile they'll keep using wiretapping laws or whatever hackneyed approach hasn't been pitched yet.

As to the issue of cattle ranching and water safety in the Equality State, I'd want to do more research.

 

[Phrossack]

This is what happens when Republicans get ahold of power. It won't end until that party disappears. And it won't disappear.

 

[Narz]

Reintroduce dinosaurs to eat all the cows, then make handbags from the dinosaurs, don't introduce any more cows. Force everyone to go vegan. Problem solved.

 

[Berzerker]

seems like the law would violate the freedom of assembly to seek redress of grievances

and free speech of course

 

[peter grimes]

This is what happens when Republicans get ahold of power. It won't end until that party disappears. And it won't disappear.

I'm confident Democrats have done equally egregious things. Let's be honest here. *Any* political party is susceptible to this sort of bullying. And that's exactly what it is.

seems like the law would violate the freedom of assembly to seek redress of grievances

and free speech of course

And since when does that stop states from trying to pass radical laws?

 

[Commodore]

I don't know what to tell you Commodore. I would hardly be shocked that a state government would seek to silence critics of friends of people in power. Illinois has an infatuation with trying to make the recording of police officers on duty a felony. Over and over again. Maybe one of these days the courts will forget to toss it out. But meanwhile they'll keep using wiretapping laws or whatever hackneyed approach hasn't been pitched yet.

As to the issue of cattle ranching and water safety in the Equality State, I'd want to do more research.

Ah, but you can't do that research since that would be a crime now in Wyoming. The article mentions there is a good chance this law will be struck down as unconstitutional the first time it is challenged, but the fact that this law was even passed in the first place is extremely disturbing.

I mean, this isn't just your run of the mill government corruption here, this has the potential to endanger the lives of the over 584,000 people living in Wyoming and cause the outbreak of a deadly disease.

 

[classical_hero]

I wonder if this will be taken to the US Supreme court?

 

[Farm Boy]

Ah, but you can't do that research since that would be a crime now in Wyoming. The article mentions there is a good chance this law will be struck down as unconstitutional the first time it is challenged, but the fact that this law was even passed in the first place is extremely disturbing.

I mean, this isn't just your run of the mill government corruption here, this has the potential to endanger the lives of the over 584,000 people living in Wyoming and cause the outbreak of a deadly disease.

I'm passing familiar with the sort of law we're talking about. I wasn't kidding about Illinois having a hardon for trying to make filming the police a felony. Just be glad we've only given one politician from this state a fleet of drones to work with recently and he seems content to tend to aim them outwards.

 

[Commodore]

I'm passing familiar with the sort of law we're talking about. I wasn't kidding about Illinois having a hardon for trying to make filming the police a felony. Just be glad we've only given one politician from this state a fleet of drones to work with recently and he, so far, seems content to tend to aim them outwards.

Oh I get what you are saying and what's going on in Illinois is absolutely abhorrent, but at least that law wouldn't pose an immediate public health risk to the population. This law is aimed at attempting to actively cover up the fact that a deadly disease is seeping into Wyoming's water sources. And why? So some greedy ranchers don't have to incur greater operating expenses by actually managing their herds instead of just letting them roam free?

 

[Farm Boy]

I'd want the Department of Ag to give me some numbers before I'm inclined to worry too much and the fact that Wyoming representatives are jackholes doesn't preclude my inclination to believe they are quite possibly also idiots. Therefore, it doesn't influence my assessment of the risk of the ranchers much one way or the other. Most public debate about food seems to be uneducated buttexpulsions arguing with other uneducated buttexpulsions. Some of them farm, some of them get elected, and some of them write about the first two.

Now on the other hand, I need relatively little convincing to believe that rendering the police a shadow force only, who possess the overt legal power to incarcerate you for a felony should you turn your cell phone camera on them is a clear and present danger to the entire population of the state.

 

[Commodore]

I'd want the Department of Ag to give me some numbers before I'm inclined to worry too much and the fact that Wyoming representatives are jackholes doesn't preclude my inclination to believe they are quite possibly also idiots. Therefore, it doesn't influence my assessment of the risk of the ranchers much one way or the other. Most public debate about food seems to be uneducated buttexpulsions arguing with other uneducated buttexpulsions. Some of them farm, some of them get elected, and some of them write about the first two.

Now on the other hand, I need relatively little convincing to believe that rendering the police a shadow force only, who possess the overt legal power to incarcerate you for a felony should you turn your cell phone camera on them is a clear and present danger to the entire population of the state.

I can't seem to find any federal research on the matter, just information from the Western Watershed Project, which the article cites as the source of the information that there is E. coli in most of Wyoming's water sources.

EDIT: As an aside: Laws like this are a big reason why I laugh in the face of anyone who advocates for "states' rights" because they feel the state governments would somehow be less corrupt than the federal government.

 

[Farm Boy]

Well, if they get even a little bit of media attention by passing this law they'll probably mostly draw regulatory eyes their direction. It's a good thread about a bad law.

 

[Commodore]

Well, if they get even a little bit of media attention by passing this law they'll probably mostly draw regulatory eyes their direction. It's a good thread about a bad law.

I guess what disturbs me the most about this law is it seems so broad in scope that it criminalizes the reporting of any environmental disaster that occurs in the state of Wyoming. So I could technically face a year in prison if I see a hazmat truck flipped over on the road and leaking hazardous material and report it to anyone.

 

[Phrossack]

I'm confident Democrats have done equally egregious things. Let's be honest here. *Any* political party is susceptible to this sort of bullying. And that's exactly what it is.

In recent years it's become part of Republican dogma to fight the very existence of environmental science. Just look at Florida. You don't see this militantly anti-science agenda from the Democrats.

 

[Farm Boy]

I guess what disturbs me the most about this law is it seems so broad in scope that it criminalizes the reporting of any environmental disaster that occurs in the state of Wyoming. So I could technically face a year in prison if I see a hazmat truck flipped over on the road and leaking hazardous material and report it to anyone.

Ayawp! Skeezy as fawk.

 

[Zelig]

I'm confident Democrats have done equally egregious things. Let's be honest here. *Any* political party is susceptible to this sort of bullying. And that's exactly what it is.

Clearly Americans can't be trusted to govern themselves.

You may have your choice of which Scandinavian country you wish to be ruled by.

 

[uppi]

Wait what? The government forbids giving information to itself? I get that politicians do not like to get confused with facts, but making that illegal? How is that even supposed to make sense?

Meanwhile, the NSA does everything they can to make not sharing with the government very difficult. So you probably should avoid looking at a thermometer while in Wyoming.