Local Sierra Club Picks its Slate

(From a Sierra Club statement.)

The Sierra Club announces its endorsement of Sally Greene, Cam Hill, Andrea Rohrbacher, and Bill Strom for Chapel Hill Town Council and Kevin Foy for mayor of Chapel Hill. Kevin Foy has continued to demonstrate his commitment to the environment through his leadership in his first term as mayor. His advocacy of the bonds for “green” infrastructure such as open space, greenways, and energy-efficient facilities, which will be on the November ballot, are seen as a way of implementing some important components of Chapel Hill’s comprehensive plan. Incumbent Bill Strom, who is completing his first term, was previously endorsed by the Sierra Club and not only has a stellar voting record but is also a proactive leader on environmental issues. He has put forth a list of 13 principles for the development of the Horace Williams Tract (e.g., Carolina North) by the University of North Carolina. Sally Greene, although not an incumbent, demonstrates a breadth of knowledge on environmental issues and their complexity that is usually found only among experienced incumbents. As a member of the Planning Board, Sally has demonstrated her commitment by doing independent research which helped improve some of the Land Use Management Ordinance provisions. Cam Hill is a candidate who presents a vision for an environmentally and socially sustainable Chapel Hill and understands that individuals must accept some personal inconvenience to protect the environmental health of the community. He has exceptional knowledge and experience concerning Carolina North since he has served on both University and Town committees. Andrea Rohrbacher, is a long-time Sierra Club activist in Orange County who has served in various roles over the years. She presents a view of the need for regional efforts and proposes specific initiatives such as TTA transit between Eubanks Road and the Research Triangle Park. She points to opportunities in using the Land Use Management Ordinance for preserving neighborhoods through the guidelines for open space and impervious surface.

Carrboro candidates endorsed by the Sierra Club are Mark Chilton, Mike Nelson, and Alex Zaffron. Mike Nelson has completed several terms as mayor and consistently demonstrates a commitment to environmental goals. He, along with Alex Zaffron, have been key participants in the development of the small area plan which advocates new principles for addressing growth pressures. Alex Zaffron, also an incumbent, has an excellent voting record over his tenure on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. He plans to continue his work on creating walkable communities and exploring new methods of storm water management. Mark Chilton, although not an incumbent, was previously a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council who received Sierra Club endorsements and demonstrated his commitment to the environment through his voting record. The Sierra Club looks to Mark Chilton as someone who will reinitiate his environmental leadership.

Bernadette Pelissier
Orange Chatham Sierra Club
Political Chair
643-2762 home
575-4541, Ext. 3656 work
bpelissier(at)juno.com

Issues: 

Comments

You should consider whether a true evironmentalist, considering the dynamics of forest ecology, gives a damn whether forests burn occasionally. Forests are supposed to burn every once in awhile. Daschle's position is not an environmentalist's position, as described by you. An environmentalist knows that the dead wood of a forest is to be dealt with by termites, mold, fungi, and fire. Fire is healthy. If you build you house close to a forest without realizing this, that's your problem. I don't support Daschle's special exemption, nor do I support your position.

Have a nice day!

Important news here is also who Sierra didn't pick:

Jim "fern" Ward who won big last time out disguised as an environmentalist for one.

And they didn't endorse Jim in 1999, either. I always say: everyone in Chapel Hill is an environmentalist. They just come in different flavors, with different blind spots and/or biases. Some I agree with more than others...

What is an enviro-weanie?

ANSWER: A legislator such as Sen. Daschle of South Dakota. He misused his office to

finagle an exception (for his state only)

from the sort of

enviro-wacko regulations that helped to

cause fires in his state's Black Hills area

in 2001, in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona in 2002,

and in California this year. Instead of

spotlighting the terrible policy and regu-

lations against cleaning out dead timber

and forest floor trash, Daschle simply

got a back-door exemption for his state

only, and to hell with the other areas that

were suffering from fires caused by pro-

hibitions on fire lanes, access roads, and

proper cutting and cleanout procedures.

Daschle is worse than a weanie. He and

the Greens and the Club Sierra wackos

ought to be personally summoned for

every burned-out acre, each of the 20

lives lost, and each of the 35000 homes

lost!

Can't offend a donator, eh Tom?

 

Community Guidelines

By using this site, you agree to our community guidelines. Inappropriate or disruptive behavior will result in moderation or eviction.

 

Content license

By contributing to OrangePolitics, you agree to license your contributions under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Creative Commons License

 
Zircon - This is a contributing Drupal Theme
Design by WeebPal.