On, Friday February 14th, Fresno and the Central Valley hosted a very special guest: the President of the United States. Discussions around the current drought crisis are expected to take place. There is uncertainty about what exactly should be done about this issue. There are, however, a number of pieces of legislation that address the drought. Obama’s visit will not be open to the public. His unavailability doesn’t seem to be the biggest concern on people’s minds however. Many are bluntly calling the visit a waste of time, saying that they find it hard to believe that Obama can make it rain and calling the visit nothing more than a photo-op.
Despite the amount of criticism expressed, there are a number of people who see this as an opportunity to increase awareness on this key issue. Many community residents have confessed to not even being aware that California was undergoing a serious drought. College student Andy Garcia said, “People need to realize that this occasion has great significance. Not only does this visit highlight a serious issue, it shows people that Fresno is a much more important place than people give it credit for.” We don’t yet know what will come from this presidential visit, but hopefully state and national legislation addressing the problem will be adopted. However, to make sure that we come up with the right solution we need an invested and informed public. Maybe a visit from the President is exactly the motivation we need to start tackling this issue seriously.
Read more at The kNOw
