The green police strike — and it’s not a commercial this time

Two years ago, Audi put out a very funny Super Bowl commercial about the “Green Police,” armed law enforcement agents who took down people violating eco laws:

Because life imitates art in Obama’s America, there’s a not-so-funny story out of Lowell, Massachusetts.  It seems that a man who has leased state park land for 26 years, and made many improvements on the land during that time, suddenly found himself dead center in the Green Police radar:

Looking to hit the spot with a savory ice cream at Great Brook Farm State Park this week?

You may be out of luck.

The park’s popular ice-cream stand was unexpectedly shut down by state officials over the weekend, after the stand’s operator made building improvements at the site without getting permission first.

Mark Duffy, who has operated the dairy farm at the state-owned park for 26 years and has a lease with the state to run the stand, said armed Environmental Police officers showed up at stand on Friday evening and stood guard throughout the weekend, turning away customers craving delectable sundaes and frappes.

[snip]

Duffy said he has made countless improvements to the farm over the years without permission. “The reason I’m here and the purpose of having me here is to improve the facility and operate a commercial dairy farm,” said Duffy, 57, who lives on the farm with his wife. “I make improvements every single day and have for 26 years.”

[snip]

There are 13 high-school and college students who work at the stand who are now without jobs, said Duffy. While there are 140 milk-producing cows at the farm, the ice cream is shipped in from Bliss Bros. Dairy, an ice-cream manufacturer and distributor in Attleboro.

If life is going to imitate art, why can’t it imitate something more pleasant than a comic dystopian nightmare?