The nanny state: GSA uses goats to save energy and money
We actually have no problem with the fact that the feds hired a herd of goats to eat the brush around a courthouse in Pasadena, California. But the bureaucrats’ breathless description of their actions on the government website is a hoot.
We actually have no problem with the fact that the feds hired a herd of goats to eat the brush around a courthouse in Pasadena, California. They probably did a much better job than any morons who would have been hired otherwise.
But the bureaucrats’ breathless description of their actions on the government website is a hoot:
Don't be surprised to see a headline that reads, "Government goats demand government cheese"
The extreme overgrowth and underbrush on the hillside behind the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Courthouse in Pasadena, California, prompted GSA’s Pacific Rim Region property management to take quick action to avoid summer fires.
Ultimately, the choice was easy: Use a herd of goats. The decision meant a cost-saving to taxpayers over hiring manual labor and proved to be better for the environment than bulldozers.
The unusually wet winter and spring caused the overgrowth, which, in California, always means the risk of summer wildfires and grass fires because of tinder underbrush.
The goats are an efficient vegetation management tool, costing thousands less and taking three days vs. a week for manual labor, with few side effects. Unlike bulldozers, used historically for the annual project, goats control brush and weeds without disturbing the grass and soil. They also do not pollute or leave synthetic chemicals that could run off into lakes and streams or be ingested by other animals.
As a result of the GSA’s “quick action,” 127 goat jobs were created or saved.
Unfortunately, the goats have now organized their own government union and despite the fact that the job has been completed and there won’t be any work for the goats until next year, they are rejecting all calls for layoffs.
