The political fallout from this year’s Presidential election is still raining down on us as I write this column. Now, I realize that minds more astute than mine have analyzed the results over and over already and many if not most of you have read or heard enough on this subject. However, please permit me the following few lines to offer my thoughts about where we are and where we’re going. To begin with, the mission of Hackensack Riverkeeper is one that is utterly nonpartisan. We view the protection, preservation and restoration of our watershed as a mission that serves the interest of all citizens regardless of political persuasion. We are about clean water, pollution prevention, protection of the public health, preservation of open space, the guarantee of public access and the achievement of environmental justice. These issues affect all of us whether we call ourselves Republicans, Democrats or independents. This attitude has enabled us to conduct a meaningful and productive dialog with the broad spectrum of both elected and appointed public officials who must make decisions that impact the environment all of the time. A majority of our fellow Americans voted to return the Bush administration to power for another four years. From what I’ve read, most of them voted for the President for reasons other than the administration’s environmental record. That’s too bad because based upon the record of the previous four years, I fear that our country will continue to witness an erosion of environmental protections and the re-writing of environmental policies to reflect ideological beliefs and corporate philosophies rather than good science and the Public Trust. Lest anyone think that I’m simply badmouthing Republicans, nothing could be further than the truth. From the beginning of this organization, I have reached out to all elected officials. When Bergen County’s government consisted of a Republican County Executive (now a Hackensack Riverkeeper Trustee) and an all-GOP Freeholder board, my colleagues and I got them to approve and implement the Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund. It was Republican Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco who first appointed me to the Meadowlands Conservation Trust, and it was he who modified the course of state government and steered the state toward the preservation of the Meadowlands. I am not a “Chicken Little” environmentalist. If I ran around saying the sky’s falling every time a decision came out of Washington or Trenton that I didn’t like, I wouldn’t have time for much else. But this administration is a different kettle of fish. From expanding off-road vehicle use on public lands, to lowering arsenic standards for drinking water, to allowing clear-cuts in national forests, to inviting polluters to re-write clean air regulations, to its insatiable desire to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it seems as if the Bush administration has declared war on America’s environment. Hell, it was only after a full-court press by the national leadership of Ducks Unlimited that the administration refrained from effectively gutting the Clean Water Act. So where do we go from here? I believe the first thing we need to do is to understand that as far as the environment goes, we are on our own. As we stand here at the midpoint of the current administration, we cannot depend on the federal government for help. It is we who must take the initiative and safeguard our watershed, our state and ourselves. It is ironic that during the late nineties it was Federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency whose stewardship supported us in our fight to save the Meadowlands. But now that we have prevailed in the “wetlands wars,” those very agencies are being deprived of their ability to assist us as we chart the future of the Meadowlands Preserve. We New Jerseyans have a profound understanding of environmental issues – an understanding that seems lost on most of the folks who live in those “red states” with their vast open spaces. Because of that, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with the incoming Codey administration and be ready to show the rest of the nation how it’s done. We must protect our state’s environment and show that New Jersey can serve as the Keeper of the precious and limited natural resources that our awesome God has bestowed upon us. Right now, the best advice I can offer as we continue to move our agenda forward is that we must not allow the federal anchor to drag us down. We must instead take a stand at the windlass, hoist the ground tackle and set a course for the port of environmental excellence. And to those who would say that the USS Environment has foundered, I say fear not because the SS New Jersey has heard its Mayday call and is sailing to the rescue. |
