Word: Let it grow, let it grow ... or no?

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle sure knows how to speak out both sides of his mouth. He’s parroted the state line in local interviews that Atlanta’s rampant growth over the years doesn’t factor into the current water shortage. But when Cagle makes a trip south of Macon, where editorial boards have chastised the metro region’s builder-friendly mind-set, the lieutenant governor sings a different tune.

“If we simply manage to catch more of the water that falls from the sky we’ll manage the growth for years to come.”

— Cagle to the Associated Press on Oct. 16

“I think there is a concerted effort to try to create fear among Georgians by stopping growth with the threat of no longer having the water resources.”

— Cagle in an Oct. 17 Capitol Impact article

“We are not in the permitting process in terms of buildings, and we do not intend to be.”

— Cagle tells the AJC on Oct. 25 that the General Assembly will not consider legislation putting the brakes on growth

“Communities have got to begin developing in that concept not allowing new growth unless there is an adequate water supply. You have to have conservation, you have to have a reasonable managed growth plan, you have to manage that resource in a responsible way. Nobody wants unbridled growth ...”

— Cagle caters to rural beliefs in a Nov. 6 Moultrie Observer article about the drought