Challenges
to Smart Growth Message (Smart Growth Online, Hartford Courant
3/2/3)
After voters proved their receptiveness to smart growth by passing 78
percent of 553 land-protection and growth-management initiatives in Nov.
2000, an editor of the Hartford Courant notes, "a counterattack"
began to form, "aimed at discrediting the entire notion of using
government to promote beneficial development patterns." He quoted
several conference speakers at a recent three-day Washington, DC conference
held by the Oregon-based Thoreau Institute entitled "Preserving the
American Dream (of Mobility and Homeownership)", such as the Taxpayers
League of Minnesota leader David Strom who said his group campaigned against
a mass transit proposal in the Twin Cities area charging proponents with
"social engineering," which "sounded bad, ... like they
were a bunch of commies." South Carolina Landowners' Association
executive director Michelle Thaxton cautioned conferees against touching
smart growth complexity because people can't absorb "more than three
to five points" while journalists like "sound bites, phrases"
and write about it "on an eighth-grade level." Others were equally
helpful, considering even using "the race card" against smart
growth, but failing to acknowledge the advantages of compact metro areas
to minorities, with 24 percent of black households dependent on public
transportation. The conferees expect money for "an anti-smart-growth
campaign" from the Scaife Foundations and others conservative groups,
from Wal-Mart, Home Depot, other big-box retailers, road contractors,
home builders and developers, the editor reports, concluding that what
they need most is "intellectual honesty and decency." |
Nebraska
Senators Target Packing Plants
(Omaha World-Herald 3/21/3)
Taking aim at meatpacking plants, Nebraska lawmakers voted to require
businesses to repay tax credits if they habitually violate labor,
environment, health or safety laws. The amendment replaced a proposal
to make slaughterhouses ineligible for tax credits under the Employment
and Investment Growth Act, commonly called LB 775. The chief sponsor,
State Sen. David Landis of Lincoln, has said he may pull the bill
if it gets too watered down. Still to come are controversial provisions
to require participating companies to pay a living wage and to significantly
lower requirements for companies that expand in low-population counties.
Landis said the industry should not be eligible for tax incentives
considering some plants' histories of hiring undocumented workers,
busting unions, paying low wages and polluting. |
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The
Military 'Environment' (Toledo Blade
3/18/3)
There is a move in Congress to exempt the U.S. military from federal
environmental regulations at thousands of present and former defense
installations around the country. The Dept. of Defense claims that
the exemptions are needed because environmental regulations are
impeding training and readiness for the battle against terrorism.
Some citizens oppose the exemptions, contending that the military
and private defense contractors would be given a free pass to pollute
and that most states, all in tough economic straits, cannot afford
the millions of dollars in toxic-waste cleanup costs. One special
concern is that the federal government may be trying to palm off
responsibility for cleanup of 16 million acres of defense sites
which, unless properly cleaned-up, could result in lead and other
toxic substances seeping into public water supplies. Last month,
Christie Whitman, administrator of the U.S. EPA, stated that EPA
regulations weren't compromising military training; after last week's
hearing, however, Ms. Whitman reversed her position, due to White
House pressure. For more background on this issue, see http://www.serconline.org/watchdog/watchdog_alerts.html#watchdog22. |
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Michigan
Bars Corn Farmers from Using Herbicide
(Associated Press 3/19/3)
Following warnings from the Agriculture Director, Michigan barred
the use of the herbicide Balance Pro for use on corn fields this
year. Balance Pro was approved by the EPA in 1998 on a conditional
basis, allowing states to regulate its use. According to Kenneth
Rausher, the director of Michigan's agriculture department, lakes
and reservoir samples in Nebraska and Missouri showed levels of
Balance Pro metabolites as late as 10 months after a single application.
This evidence elevated concerns about surface water and groundwater
contamination. |
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Change
in Wolf's Status Hurts Maine Restoration Effort
(Portland Press Herald 3/19/3)
The recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to relax federal
protection for wolves included some disappointing news for Maine
advocates of the animals. Under the new rules, Northeastern states
are considered a part of the successful Midwestern wolf recovery
program. While wolves are doing well in the Great Lakes states and
the northern Rocky Mountains, there are few, if any, in the northeast,
and many groups had hoped to see wolves reintroduced to the area.
Under the new rules, that will not happen. Critics of the new rules
feel that, although the F&WS has done a good job in some regions,
the agency is abandoning suitable wolf habitat in the rest of the
country. Gray wolves were once found in most of North America, but
by the 1950s they were virtually eradicated from most of the lower
48 states, and were listed as endangered in the 1970s. For more
information on laws regulating wolves, see http://serconline.org/wolfpreservation/index.html. |
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California
Lawmakers Criticize Bush, Davis (San
Diego Union Tribune 3/19/3)
California legislators, led by Senate chief John Burton, criticized
both the Republican Bush administration and Democratic Davis administration
last week for logging practices they said are hurting California's
environment. They advanced a package of 10 bills and resolutions
that would discourage clear-cutting and harvesting of ancient trees,
and asked Congress to reinstate logging limits rejected last week
by the U.S. Forest Service for 11.5 million acres of Sierra Nevada
national forests. The state legislation would pre-empt Davis' Board
of Forestry, which the lawmakers said has not done enough to protect
watersheds or wildlife. |
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Great
Lakes States Prepare Management Standards
(Ann Arbor 3/16/3)
When it comes to protecting the Great Lakes from water diversions
by parched Southwestern states or well-heeled foreign nations, the
best defense may be a good offense – a legal one. That's why
environmentalists and water experts say Michigan and other states
in the region must lay the legal foundation to safeguard the lakes
from diversion. Last week officials from the Great Lakes states
met in Washington to continue work on turning a 2001 agreement that
set out the governors' guiding principles on protecting the lakes
into region-wide water management standards. The Great Lakes governors,
who were charged by Congress to create an agreement, have set June
2004 as their deadline. The document is expected to outline standards
for water withdrawals and conservation in the Great Lakes basin.
The drafters aren't talking low-flow shower heads or water-conserving
dishwashers. They're more interested in regulations requiring industrial
and agricultural users to conserve water. The agreement, while providing
guidance to individual Great Lakes states, would apply only to the
region and, with Canadian approval, could eventually be used as
a standard for the province of Ontario. By having a regional policy
sanctioned by Congress, Michigan and the other states may be able
to protect themselves from merchants using trade treaties to siphon
water from the lakes. For more information on water conservation,
see http://serconline.org/waterconservation/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Florida
Developers Ghost Write Groundwater Bill
(St. Petersburg Times 3/20/3)
A freshman Florida lawmaker was so unfamiliar with his own bill
last week that he couldn't answer any questions posed by a legislative
committee. So he turned to someone he said was the expert: a lobbyist
for the state's biggest developers. The lobbyist, Jim Garner of
the Assoc. of Florida Community Developers, helped write the bill
for Rep. Baxter Troutman. It's not unusual for lobbyists to write
legislation, but it is unusual for a lawmaker to admit that a lobbyist
knew more about a bill he's sponsoring. Troutman's bill (HB 1005)
is opposed by environmentalists and the state Dept. of Environmental
Protection. It would change a state law that allows some of Florida's
groundwater to be reserved to benefit the environment. The law has
been used only once in Florida history, according to the DEP. Developers
worry the law might hurt them if the state decides not to grant
water permits for new development where the environment is stressed.
Garner is particularly concerned because he represents golf course
developments. The bill passed unanimously. |
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North
Carolina 'Smart Growth' Panel Disbands
(Raleigh News and Observer 3/18/3)
The committee of legislators in the NC General Assembly that was
supposed to further the cause of "smart growth" has disbanded
without ever meeting. The legislature created the Growth Strategies
Oversight Committee to carry on the work of a 37-member commission
that spent most of 2000 looking for ways to help local governments
deal with their growing populations. The commission's final report,
released in late 2001, included dozens of recommendations on issues
such as traffic, open space and housing. Little has come of the
report since, said Cara Crisler, executive director of the N.C.
Smart Growth Alliance, a coalition of community, environmental and
planning organizations based in Carrboro. For more information on
smart growth, see http://serconline.org/sprawl/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Colorado
Agency Accused of Killing ATV Report
(Denver Post 3/16/3)
A report by Colorado state biologists urging the White River National
Forest to close certain roads and trails to ATVs was never forwarded
to decision makers, prompting critics to complain that Gov. Bill
Owens administration cares more for ATVs than wildlife. Ultimately,
state Dept. of Natural Resources Director Greg Walcher told Forest
Service officials that Colorado opposes any road closures in the
White River National Forest. Environmentalists and retired wildlife
agency staffers said it was the second time the DNR has ignored
state biologists' concerns about motorized recreation in the forest.
Wildlife Division observers say top DNR officials knew the biologists'
memo existed but made no effort to ensure it was submitted. "This
is standard operating procedure for Walcher's administration,"
added retired division biologist Tom Beck. "Let the underlings
find out what you don't want known, then claim you never saw it."
The wildlife agency's own studies show how ATV use in the fall drives
elk out of the national forest and onto private land and environmentalists
cite dozens of other studies that show off-road vehicles cause soil
erosion, the spread of invasive plants, and disturb sensitive and
endangered wildlife. For more on ensuring responsible ATV use in
your state, see http://www.serconline.org/orv/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Manufacturers
Increase Opposition to Efficiency Standards
(Appliance Standards Awareness Project)
Several manufacturer trade associations have joined forces to lobby
Congress in an attempt to preempt the product energy efficiency
standards established in California last year and state standards
legislation pending in numerous states. This is a very serious threat
to states' authority to save energy with common sense efficiency
standards. Appliance and equipment efficiency standards reduce energy
use, save consumers and businesses money, and cut power plant pollution
that harms public health and the environment. States pioneered the
first energy efficiency standards. States are once again looking
to efficiency standards as a key policy for saving energy. For more
information on state efficiency standards, see http://serconline.org/efficiencystandards/index.html. |
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