Two off-putting Op/Ed pieces recently caught my attention. One for the way two Indiana executives used hyperbole to unnecessarily make their case. The other was an attack on the environmental community by a Michigan legislator.
The Northwest Indiana Times published a commentary titled “Take a Breather from Carp Hysteria.” The authors are Rich Cooper, CEO of Ports of Indiana and Ron Carter, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Their commentary is typical of the garden-style analysis usually put forward by industry when it wants to make a case for not closing the Chicago Area Waterways System (CAWS) to prevent the advance of Asian Carp. Cooper and Carter argue along predictable jobs versus the environment lines with jobs, of course, trumping environmental concerns.
Fair enough, they are legitimate stakeholders and are entitled to make their case.
But here’s where they fell off the tracks.
They say that policymakers are guilty of having a “knee-jerk reaction” when it comes to thinking about closing CAWS.
And it gets worse.
They go on to say that “hysteria can never lead to sober decisions in public policymaking.”
“Hysteria?” Are they serious?
Asian Carp have been on a 17-year advance up the Mississippi River toward the Great Lakes. If anything the official reaction from government officials has been slow and bureaucratic and certainly not “hysterical.”
Cooper and Carter’s problem isn’t a “knee-jerk reaction” or “hysteria” by policymakers.
It’s the attorneys general of the six, count’em, six Great Lake states who are suing to protect their shores and the economic interests of their constituents. Attorneys general, like most elected officials, can have their grandstanding moments. But this group, led by Michigan, has remained focused on the facts and the law.
The Indiana executives should also have no “hysteria” quarrels with the region’s mayors either. Their organization is conducting a fast-track study on the feasability of physical separation between the Great Lakes and Mississippi waterways.
David Ullrich, an executive with more than 30 years of environmental experience, leads that process. I know Ullrich and he is knowledgeable, professional, collaborative and about as far removed from “hysterical” as one can imagine.
C’mon Indiana – make your case on the facts and spare us the baseless hyperbole. Your constituents deserve better.
Michigan’s Rep. Upton: Enviros are “divisive, shrill, disingenuous and inaccurate.”
But the Indiana guys pale compared to Congressman Fred Upton, R-Mich.
Two weeks ago Upton wrote a commentary for Investor’s Business Daily, ripping the environmental community for having an “extreme idealogical agenda.” He said they were “more interested in filling their coffers” than “steadily and practically advancing toward a cleaner environment.”
Got your attention? There’s more.
Upton finished his assault on environmental professionals saying “they are divisive, shrill, disingenuous and inaccurate.”
Wow!
Aren’t our elected officials supposed to exhibit a little courtesy and professionalism even toward those with whom they disagree? I guess Upton was absent the day they taught decorum during the House orientation.
There is so much wrong with Upton’s rant that it’s hard to know where to start.
But “extreme idealogical agenda” and “divisive” jump off the page.
Upton didn’t identify his environmental targets by name so we can only speculate. But he represents a district in a Great Lakes state and the National Wildife Federation’s Great Lakes office is very active on issues that Upton touches.
I have known executives from the National Wildlife Federation for years. I’m sorry, they don’t come remotely close to fitting Upton’s view of environmentalists.
They do have an agenda driven by the principle of protecting the environment, but it’s nowhere near “an extreme idealogical agenda.”
“Divisive?” Hardly. Their first inclination is to reach out and to collaborate with all parties on an issue.
In fact, if I have a criticism of our current Great Lakes enviro leaders it’s they aren’t tough enough.
They’re prone to put too much emphasis on process versus results. And they can be over-eager, sometimes accepting any deal for the sake of a deal to make at least incremental progress.
In his commentary, Upton brought up oil pipeline safety as an example of the failure of environmental groups. Last year there was a significant pipeline break near Upton’s western Michigan district and ironically, he chairs the House committee responsible for pipeline regulations, which he’ll be working on.
“Instead of coming to the table with constructive ideas, these (environmental) groups are using this disaster to foment opposition to the Canadian Keystone Pipeline project….” Upton wrote in Investor’s Business Daily.
Keystone is a proposed pipeline that would carry heavy tar sands crude oil from Canada through the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico.
Upton’s portrayal of the enviro groups didn’t make sense based on my knowledge of them so I reached out to the National Wildlife Federation’s Beth Wallace. Wallace is based in Ann Arbor and is a Community Outreach Coordinator who happens to be from Upton’s district.
Wallace reiterated that their first option is always try to work with public officials.
“NWF has recommendations to share of what it would like to see in a pipeline safety bill” Wallace said.
But apparently to no avail with Upton.
“National Wildlife Federation has tried to establish a dialogue with Representative Upton on pipeline safety recommendations but has been rebuffed to date” Wallace said.
Concerned that the cart will go before the horse, Wallace said she hopes “Upton will advance a serious pipeline safety bill before a decision by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed.”
Upton’s office did not respond to a request to comment.
Apology warranted
Upton’s commentary in Investor’s Business Daily is in bad taste. It is written in a tone that can only be interpreted as disrespectful, combative and likely designed to support his own extreme agenda.
That is, pandering to the oil lobby even as his region suffers and is still recovering from a massive oil spill that polluted the Kalamazoo River.
Whether he agrees with them or not on issues, Congressman Upton owes environmental groups an apology for the way he villified them for political gain.
And he should do it publicly, say, on an Op/Ed page.