CQ on NBAF
Grady Thrasher and Kathy Prescott are going global.
The founders of the local anti-NBAF group For Athens Quality of Life made their way up to Washington Thursday for the Department of Homeland Security’s first public hearing on its draft environmental impact statement for the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility.
The D.C. newspaper Congressional Quarterly interviewed them.
“We don’t think it should be on the mainland because the release of foot-and-mouth would be a catastrophic event,” Thrasher said. “We don’t want it in our community. But we don’t want it anywhere else, either.”
Homeland Security officials are coming to Athens Aug. 14 for two public hearings, and the “no death lab” crowd is worried they’ll be reduced to a parade of dignitaries pandering to the feds.
Thrasher forwarded me an e-mail from North Carolina activist Bill McKellar to DHS asking if official types will be given preferential treatment. Everyone who shows up will have equal opportunity to speak, first-come, first-serve basis, NBAF program manager Jamie Johnson replied.
To Paul Broun’s credit, for one, he’s intentionally stayed away from past hearings, sending a staffer instead so as not to draw attention away from the issue at hand. And the Bush-haters ranting about Katrina got more mic time here than the Chamber of Commerce types at past hearings. Still, it’s good to know the feds aren’t rigging our last chance to put our voices on the record.
Shifting the burden
Georgia Republican congressmen are giving up pork, but our senators are living high on the hog.
The AJC reports that Broun, Nathan Deal, John Linder, Jack Kingston and Lynn Westmoreland aren’t so much turning down earmarks as asking Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson to take care of it for them.
That way, they can brag about not wasting taxpayer money but still bring home the bacon – without their fingerprints on it.
A good example is the Campbell Center controversy. When news broke that the Watkinsville USDA research station would close, Barry Fleming blamed Broun, who said there was nothing he could do because he swore off earmarks. Chambliss stepped in and gained a temporary reprieve, but Broun tried to take the credit for it.
If Chambliss ever finds funds for a Pat Boone museum or a library of Bibles, we’ll know who’s really behind it.
On further reflection
After a few conversations over the past couple of days, I may have been too hard on Team Broun for stonewalling me about his office budget.
I don’t think Broun’s staff in D.C. understands how much interest his franking and other spending have generated back home. And I’m trying to explain to them that we can all put this issue to bed and go back to worrying about more important things if they’ll just hand over the records. Whatever they show, we’ll find out in three weeks or so anyway, and that’s three weeks of chatter, rumors, letters to the editor and Bobby Saxon talking about it on the radio.
If we can impress upon them in their faraway land how much attention this is getting back home, they may be convinced.
- Blake Aued's blog
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If the abh publishes the chambers newsletter, are you COC types?
I'm curious, what is a chamber of commerce type? I mean, is your boss the publisher a chamber of commerce type? After all, he was the chairman of the chamber of commerce just a few years ago. Is every member of the chamber of commerce a chamber of commerce type? What about members like The flagpole or the local school system?
If your definition is anyone involved with the chamber of commerce then I saw a bunch of them at BHL mentoring middle school kids. Maybe the people from FAQ-Q could come protest in front of BHL and show those chamber of commerce types they mean business.
Gooooooooooooo washed up hippies. sick em' woof woof woof!
NBAF No Frankenstein ...
Thrasher and Prescott's willingness to stand-up for Athens is laudable, but they, and some others, miss a major point. Imagine a world where scientists are not allowed to study communicable diseases! Ironically, the effectiveness of past research -- in both animal and human diseases -- has muddled the understanding of some in the public, about the link between research and health. Humans and their food supply are much safer because of the funding and commitment of scientists and the government in protecting our food supply and health. Without this mandate, and with research not done, the risks to all humans will increase and epidemics that could be prevented may well materialize (this can happen even given research but the risk is lower). It amazes me that so many learned Athenians miss the point about facing the challenge of animal diseases; those torch-bearing villagers spouting the Frankensteinian rant are amazingly similar to Dark Ages religious authorities who lambasted and ridiculed the objectivity associated with science and the scientific method. Will Athens come across as an oasis of head-in-sand-but-hip Luddites?
I am uninformed
Ok, I should know more about this, but this is far afield from my area of expertise and I don't even know how to formulate a decent search. Have there been previous incidences involving similar facilities? If none known, have they possibly been "covered up" (sorry to go conspiracy theory on ya, but I am a lawyer and I do live in Athens, that's 2 out of 3 right there)? If there have been problems, how often and how serious? What is the probability of an incident occuring, and if one does, how great is the potential loss from any probably incident?
All of these must be weighed against the guarantees that we must demand from NBAF upfront, and over a LONG TERM basis, to truly benefit the local region on a more than superficial basis. If these terms seem workable and acceptable, I don't think we should run screaming for the hills because a new and different risk may come to benefit our community with its new and different rewards. We are a highly diverse community, and it may well be worth closely examining the terms of a deal they are willing to offer. Reasonableness should be the keyword in any such situation and ultimately the protection of our youth and the long-term viability of our region.