The Nov. 20 Simi Valley Acorn delivered two nice surprises.

The first announced Boeing is going to court to fight the outlandish cleanup standards in SB 990. The second, the editorial in the Opinion section, recognized that the war against Boeing is being mainly waged by third-party groups like Bridge the Gap.

California and Boeing’s problem is driven by the same systemic cause, which is the lack of leadership and direction by our elected officials in Sacramento and their inability to make decisions on what is best for our state and not their political careers.

SB 990 was written by far-left environmentalists to single out one site. It imposes cleanup for some chemicals to levels below background, compelling Boeing to unnecessarily truck off the site tens of thousands of truckloads of soil in order to comply.

SB 990 has limits in it that are not in effect anywhere else in the state or in the country. As residents, why are we allowing outsiders to dictate this waste of our taxpayer money and exposure of traffic and truck emissions in our community?

Why did politicians in Sacramento allow this to happen?

Many of our politicians cave in to environmental groups that don’t have the best interest of California in mind.

They’re also caving in to lobbyist and other special interest groups. They are cowed by the vocal minority who are forcing their point of view on the majority.

Businesses have been leaving the state for years, going to states with a business-friendly atmosphere where they can make a profit and hire employees.

Ten years ago Boeing was the largest employer in the state of California, a position it no longer holds. This past week Boeing announced it is opening a new plant in the South, creating 4,000 jobs.

Our Founding Fathers created this great nation as a republic and not a democracy. Under a republic everyone is given equal protection under the law, guaranteed in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

A democracy allows the majority to rule, thus giving it the power to take from the minority and give it to themselves. A democracy cannot survive, while a republic can.

What we are experiencing in America today is a government burdening us with crushing taxation and crushing legislation. Both of these choke all Americans.

Marty Robertson

Simi Valley

Robertson is a former Boeing employee who worked at the Santa Susana Field Lab for 35 years.