Longleaf fight brought tears to my eyes this morning

The longest active fight to stop a proposed coal plant came to a close today with a huge victory for the health of Georgia's citizens and our fragile natural resources. As soon as I realized what the call was about (we had no idea why we were asked to participate) my eyes welled with tears. Stopping this 1200MW proposed coal plant is a HUGE VICTORY for grassroots organizers across the country.

Bobby and Jane McClendon have taken lots of grief from their neighbors in Early County while opposing Longleaf, but they remained steadfast in their determination to stop a coal plant that would ruin the air they breathe, the water they drink, the fish swimming nearby, and the health of their friends and family (now and future generations). With the help of Colleen Kiernan at the Sierra Club, Erin Glynn with the Beyond Coal Campaign, Justine Thompson at GreenLaw, and a very long list of other organizations, individual citizens, attorneys, experts, and funders (remember, no one on the coal plant opposition side of the equation is billing $750+ per hour for legal work to stop these nightmare plants, philanthropic groups play a vital role in this work).

What does this mean for Plant Washington? It should serve as notice to the leaders of P4G, my local EMC Board, co-op members, AND the citizens who are fighting Plant Washington that in fact coal can be stopped in Georgia, despite the high priced lawyers and experts, and millions of shareholder dollars that are sunk into a project like this.

In one day's work this summer individuals shut down the phone system at LS Energy, the developer of Longleaf, with calls opposing the plant. That day was one of many spent during the past 11 years developing opposition to this pollution spewing plant. The grit and determination, skilled work and strategy, and long hours (and funding) have resulted in a victory that serves as a model for work against Plant Washington. I hope it is the last proposed coal plant that must be defeated in our country.

That sounds ambitious, but with Georgia being one of the few states still issuing new coal plant permits (never mind that our rivers are already full of mercury, we don't have enough water to power new plants, our air quality is declining, and the health of our state's citizens is impacted negatively in both the long term and short term pictures), we still have work to do.

With the news today about  Longleaf, I've rolled my sleeves up a little more. If you want to make a difference right now in the work that I am doing via FACE, please consider joining or making a contribution here. I love a good fight, and I am in this one to win.

Let's call the EPD what it really is

When I started learning about coal and the impact a coal plant would have on my community, someone with many years of experience in environmental work referred to the Environmental Protection Division as the "Environmental Permitting Division." As a novice, I thought that was pretty clever. It isn't now, unfortunately.

Almost two months ago in this blog I asked if ANY state agency/department in the state is protecting our health. There are no searchable news releases from the Georgia Department of Community Health concerning the impact of coal plants on the state's citizens (there are from other health organizations such as the American Lung Association). That begs the question of why, with high asthma rates among children, and  high cardiopulmonary disease rates in adults, DCH isn't at the front line on coal plant emissions in the state (both existing and proposed).

It is for sure we can't count on the Environmental "Protection" Division to protect our health by reducing pollutants spewing into the air or dumping into our waterways. Based on his support of adding new coal plants in the state, Gov. Deal isn't an advocate for our health. He allowed Allen Barnes to continue as Director of EPD after the state's largest fish kill occurred on his watch, followed by the EPD's overdue admission that it hadn't properly monitored the company responsible for the dumping that killed the fish. Another fish kill happened on Brier Creek, and another was reported in Commission Creek. And yet Deal was happy to allow the E"P"D leader to continue.

Allen Barnes has left his job at E"P"D and his replacement, Jud Turner, a lobbyist, opened the door for a warm welcome from environmentalists by saying just after his appointment was announced, that he will “adopt the policies of his predecessor in trying to keep economic development coming into the state while regulating its impact on the environment.”

My comments submitted to the E"P"D during the last air permit hearing on Plant Washington included this:

The EPD’s mission is:

protects and restores Georgia’s environment. We take the lead in ensuring clean air, water and land. With our partners, we pursue a sustainable environment that provides a foundation for a vibrant economy and healthy communities.

Your vision statement includes:

Georgia’s environment is healthy and sustainable. Natural resources are protected and managed to meet the needs of current and future generations.


Your principles include:

EPD serves the public by implementing state laws, rules, and policies to protect human health and the environment.

EPD applies and enforces environmental laws and standards in a consistent, fair, and timely manner. 

EPD is proactive and results-oriented, and helps develop new approaches to meet Georgia’s environmental challenges. 

Georgians have a right to and a responsibility for a healthy environment and the conservation of our natural resources. 

Georgia’s environment consists of diverse ecosystems of interrelated and interdependent components, including people, plants, animals and their habitats, as well as air, water, and land. 

Environmental stewardship, protection of human health, and economic vitality are compatible and mutually beneficial goals. 


Several concerned citizens joined me that night and said the E"P"D's job is to protect the natural resources in our state and the health of the people who live here. Economic vitality is mentioned in the last part of the department's vision, but it seems that the Department has narrowed its work to solely focus on the economic vitality of a few private companies and their shareholders.


While I was out of the office earlier this week (and mulling over any number of topics for an update to this blog) the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer was working on an editorial which was quickly picked up and circulated today by the very people (environmentalists) that Turner should be courting. Tom Crawford thought it was worth quoting in full (and I agree):

Jud Turner, Gov. Nathan Deal’s choice to head the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, will officially succeed EPD Director Allen Barnes in the new year. At Wednesday’s meeting of the state Natural Resources Board, Turner pledged, as reported by Morris News Service, to “adopt the policies of his predecessor in trying to keep economic development coming into the state while regulating its impact on the environment.”

The reaction of Georgia’s environmental community was almost certainly less than enthusiastic. And that skepticism might ultimately have less to do with Turner’s qualifications and values (or with those of his predecessor) than with the years-old conflict inherent in the agency he has been tapped to lead.

Barnes, who has led the EPD for slightly more than two years after succeeding Columbus native Carol Couch, acknowledged his conflicts with environmentalists but said part of the office’s responsibility is “to find that balance between a sustainable economy and a sustainable environment.” Turner echoed the observation: “There is a balance, as Allen has talked about, between economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.”

Of course such a balance is essential, in Georgia and everywhere else. So what’s the problem?

The problem is that while both economic development and environmental protection are critical, an agency officially titled the Environmental Protection Division should be primarily — perhaps exclusively — concerned with the latter.
The fact that Georgia’s top-ranking environmental watchdog is expected to concern himself/herself with economics, beyond the obvious responsibility of managing the department’s budget, goes to the chronic structural dysfunction of this part of state government. And that structural problem goes all the way back to the Carter administration. (That’s Jimmy Carter the governor, not Carter the later president.)

As part of a well-intentioned and efficiency-minded reorganization of state government, EPD was placed under the Department of Natural Resources, largely an economic development agency. As the decades have gone by, the tension between industrial and environmental interests — a familiar tension, but in Georgia one that plays out under the same bureaucratic roof — has made the merger look more and more like a shotgun wedding.

Environmental protectors should be protecting the environment … period. Surely there are ample forces in Georgia government to effect that balance to which the current and future EPD directors alluded. (Rest assured that in the Georgia General Assembly, business interests will be devoutly represented.)

Turner, like Barnes before him, would have a tough enough job just protecting Georgia’s precious and beautifully diverse environment. Having to worry about economic growth as well shouldn’t be part of his mission. But until Georgia leaders rethink the role and importance of environmental protection, EPD is destined to remain a second-tier bureaucracy.

In this time of budget crunching and nickel squeezing, will the Governor's next spending reduction suggestion be to simply roll the E"P"D into the state's Department of Economic Development and let them pursue and permit more companies to degrade and poison our environment? At the current pace, it would be in keeping with the state's safeguarding of our natural resources and our health.

    

Simple is Plenty for Me

I was just 14 years old when this aired on Saturday Night Live, but I have never forgotten it. It reminds me, especially having flown just two weeks ago, of a much simpler time when people eagerly waited for their friends and family at the gate where people came up the jetway.

Our lives are so complex now with 24 hour news, tiny computers that are also phones, cameras, telegraph equipment (think txt mssg), video cameras, and shopping centers (Ebay), plus laptop computers, and cars that respond to our voices. In 1975 sales of the microwave exceeded gas ranges for the first time. Children don't know that pancakes start with eggs, flour, and buttermilk in liquid form, or that French toast didn't originate as French toast sticks.

Tomorrow families across our country, and those serving our country here and in every corner of the Earth, will come together to share a meal and be thankful. Thanksgiving isn't about presents, shiny ribbon, or battery operated toys. It is meant to give all of us a day to pause and reflect.


Some of us will not set as many places at the table as last year, but hopefully we will feel the warmth and love of those who aren't with us. Others may be painfully aware of having much less in their checkbooks than they did last year, and dread the constant onslaught of "buy this" that has already begun without mercy. Whether spoken or not, some of us will know that while all the seats are filled at the table, next year they may not be.

I hope that tomorrow each of us will find a reason to smile at some point during the day. Some smiles may come from the deep satisfaction of seeing a newborn nestled in the crook of a great-grandparent's arm. Children will smile when they think no one has seen them pinching a taste of melted marshmallow from the sweet potatoes. A young cook will smile with relief that the meal is more than just edible, it is actually good.

I don't have a cooking assignment tomorrow (mine is for Friday night's meal with 22 people). Instead, tomorrow I will cover two large tables with heavy brown paper. Then I will put out brand new crayons (a total of 96) within easy reach of each chair. I know my family well enough to be sure that just about everyone, including the great grandparents, will at the least play tic-tac-toe with one of the younger children. Linen tablecloths and ironed napkins just don't feel right this year.

A year ago on the day before Thanksgiving, I had a follow up mammogram because something didn't look right. Last week I was told there is no indication that the early stage cancer I had removed from my left breast in late December has returned. So simple is a good fit for me this year: a simple thankfulness that I am well, and that the people I know and love are well. And that is reason enough to smile. And to be thankful.    

Why isn't the Department of Public Health speaking up for us?

As has been evidenced this year, citizens can't count on the state's Environmental Protection Division to lead in protecting our natural resources or health from pollution. In the past few days our state Attorney General has filed two briefs opposing rules which will significantly reduce toxins in the air we breath and the water we count on for so many things.

So, I wonder, why isn't the Department of Public Health (DPH) speaking out in favor of tighter pollution regulations and oversight? The DPH web site says,"DPH is the lead department entrusted by the people of the state of Georgia with the ultimate responsibility for the health of the communities and the entire population."

Even their own data reflect high rates of birth defects (mercury is a neurotoxin), cancer, heart and lung disease, and stroke, all of which can result from exposure to dirty air. Can they not figure out that coal plants are pumping TONS of hazardous pollutants into the air each year? Have they not noticed because the policy makers are in Atlanta at 2 Peachtree Street? They don't see the coal stacks from their back yard or wipe coal ash dust from their front porch rocking chairs each day.

Is there ANY state agency in Georgia that is really invested in protecting our health, our air, and our water, from the pollution and health effects that have been documented for decades?      

Just wondering.

Administrative Problems Cut Rural Health Care Funding

In June the President created a Rural Task Force which includes a long list of federal departments and offices. Last month they were on the road listening to citizen concerns. Kathleen Seblius at HHS is to be commended for making sure that some of our country's brightest health care leaders at HHS have a real understanding of the challenges rural communities face in creating and sustaining healthy communities. Some of those leaders include Mary Wakefield (North Dakota) at HRSA from  Marcia Brand (West Virginia) at the Bureau of Health Professions, and Tom Morris (North Carolina) at the Office of Rural Health Policy.

All of these agencies understand and advocate for rural physicians who are frequently on the short end of re-reimbursement, treat higher numbers of Medicare and Medicaid patients, and must compete for staff  against the higher salaries available in larger cities. Rural doctors don't get a discount on all the equipment they need just because they are in a smaller demographic. Just as their patients want the best care possible, doctors want to deliver it and they need the technology and equipment to do that.

When Congress returns it is imperative that it address the complete omission of  rural clinics in  federal quality improvement efforts and funding. The National Rural Health Association alerted members that it would be working with partners to lobby Congress to correct an administrative problem that resulted in the lack of any funding for improving the health of rural American through these programs. The money is already budgeted but due to a data collection omission at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, reports filed by rural physicians were not included.

I've heard people, including state and federal elected officials, downplay the importance of high quality health care in rural communities (it is stunning). Some of them had said they don't ever visit rural communities and just don't know much about them.(we make sure they know the welcome mat is always out). But when they go to the beach, the mountains, or visit friends and family out of town, most likely their trip takes them through a rural community. An accident, heart attack, stroke, or sudden illness isn't the time to wish there was good quality health care just down the road.

Congress needs to fix this administrative issue so rural gets the funding  that is already budgeted. We want and deserve our fair share. The White House and Congress need a fuller understanding of what makes the success and sustainability of rural America critical for solving the problems our country faces. Health care is an important one.  

    

A Civics Lesson

Last night people from across Georgia came together to comment on an air permit for Plant Washington, a proposed coal fired power plant which would be built near Sandersville, my rural home. The opponents of the plant outnumbered the pro-plant speakers, with only 2 of the 24 supporting the plant.

Two doctors ran through a long and scary list of illnesses and diseases resulting from exposure to a coal plant. Many of these include the horribly damaging impact of coal on pregnant women and their developing babies, as well as young children. Dr. Yolanda White said that because the plant toxins settle in the lower layer of the air, children are exposed to more toxins because of their height and because they breathe faster and more often (which makes sense but I had never thought about it).

At the close of what had been a vey polite two hours, someone from Milledgeville spoke. He began by praising everyone for doing their homework and about a project that will have permanent effects on our community's health and natural resources. He thought the community had set a real example of civic engagement.

Then he cautioned us that we are bargaining badly if local leaders continue to support the
plant. Because he lives near Plant Branch he spoke from experience as an educator and
concerned citizen.

I am proud of the way students, friends and neighbors, strangers, and national leaders in protecting rural communities and their natural resources from environmental injustices worked together to make case after case on the reasons the state should not issue the permit. I hope the elected officials, business leaders, and EMC board members took our comments to heart.
It takes courage to stand up and be among the few who are willing to put their community's health and safety above profits and power (literally and figuratively). I am stand with them.