Featured Issue: Environmental Protection

When looking across the nation it becomes very clear that sound environmental protection is also sound economic policy. States which put a high priority on environmental protection are states that prosper and that attract businesses looking for a good quality of life. And West Virginia's place at the bottom of the economic barrel goes hand in hand with our history of environmental destruction.

West Virginia's economy has been dominated by extractive industries, and these have taken their toll on our environment. Whether we speak of coal mining or timbering, quarrying or chemicals or poultry production, the state has been left with a legacy of sludge, floods, acid, erosion, dirty water, dioxin, and plain old ugliness.

Responsible businesses are not attracted to places where their employees will be at risk from cancer, from the destruction of their homes and property values, from dust and odors. Nor do tourists want to visit such places.

West Virginia's lack of care for the environment can be traced directly to the lack of political leadership and the coopting of our political process by industry. Coal set the tone, and others have taken advantage of the situation.

We have good laws on the books -- the problem is enforcing them. State government has lacked the will to do this. Agencies which supposedly exist to protect the environment are in fact run by industry hacks who think their mission is to grease the wheels for polluters and ward off citizen complaints.

In a Denise Giardina administration, the Department of Environmental Protection will be just that. The protection of our air, water, and other resources will be the priority. And where regulations need tightening, as in the timber industry, I will push for those regulations.

I believe the land is a wonderful divine gift, and that we are only borrowing it for our short time on earth. Some day we will be called on to hand it on to our children. That is the trust we have been given.

It is not necessary to choose between jobs and the environment because a clean environment means good jobs.