Paul H. Betancourt

Ten Reasons: Finding Balance on Environmental Issues Paul H. Betancourt

There is a lot of nonsense that goes on in the name of the environment. Farmers and other producers regularly shake their heads at red tape and Death of Common Sense experiences. In Ten Reasons, Betancourt seeks to find balance on environmental issues. We need a healthy environment and a healthy economy. Betancourt's Ten Reasons explores how we have lost perspective and how to restore balance on environmental issues as we go forward. Betancourt offers an alternative to gridlock on environmental issues. As Betancourt says, "If we are going to do this, let's do it right." Paul Betancourt farms with his family in California's Central Valley. They currently grow Pima cotton, wheat and almonds. In addition to being active in the community, Betancourt is an instructor at the University of Phoenix in Fresno, California and Madera Center Community College. Betancourt's observations on life and farming can be heard on 940ESPN radio every weekday in Fresno, California. You can also follow him on his blog, This Week on the Farm, at http://betancourtunlimited.blogspot.com/ "Paul Betancourt faces the challenges of farming in a region with good soils and plentiful degree days but uncertain surface water supplies and increasingly degraded and dwindling groundwater supplies. His recounting of his frustrations dealing with these factors and a bureaucracy struggling to address water and air issues in this environment makes an interesting read." Dr. Karl Longley Dean Emeritus- California State University Fresno, School of Engineering Past Chairman- Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board "As an organic farmer I am so buried with paperwork that I barely have time to set equipment and check my fields. I appreciate the common sense light that Paul shines on farming and environmental issues. We really do need balance." Daniel Babschoff Kerman, California