Legislators score well with environmental groups

Legislators score well with

environmental groups

2004-04-18
by Thomas Fraser
of The Daily Times Staff

Blount County's legislative delegation received positive assessments from the Tennessee Conservation Voters 2003 Legislative Scorecard.

Tennessee Conservation Voters advocates positive environmental change through the legislative process and will publish its scorecard once a year. The 2003 scorecard grades state lawmakers on the number and type of bills they either sponsored or voted for.

Each legislator earned a point for actions deemed beneficial to the environment by the Tennessee Conservation Voters, which consists of groups ranging from the Sierra Club and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to Tennessee Trial Lawyers and the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation. A point was deducted for actions deemed harmful to the environment.

With five overall points, Sen. Bill Clabough received the third highest ranking of any state senator and the highest ranking of any Republican.

He racked up positive points for supporting:

• An effort to allow the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to raise fees on fishing and hunting licenses to be applied to its conservation mission.
• Restoration of the real estate transfer tax applied to land acquisition.
• Regulation of the aerial application of pesticides and herbicides.

He was one of the few senators to have no points deducted from his record

by the conservation group.

Bipartisan concerns

Clabough said the environment is a bipartisan issue that concerns his East Tennessee constituents. His environmental ethic stems from his Blount County boyhood.

"There are those of us who are more in tune with environmental problems," he said. "Being brought up on the water and in the woods," he said, cultivated more of a "burning passion" for the environment than politicians who are now naturally drawn to the outdoors.

Rep. Joe McCord received two points, both for his support of restoring the wetlands fund and successful effort to allow TWRA to increase its hunting and fishing license costs.

"The last time the state had any sort of raise (in license fees) will have been 16 years ago when this is enacted," he said. The management and conservation efforts of TWRA are fully funded through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.

Achieving a balance

McCord, an "avid hunter and fisherman" and member of the House Environment and Conservation committee, stressed the importance of balancing the rights of property owners and environmental concerns.

For instance, he was opposed to a proposal that would have required a permit for clear-cutting private land, because, he said, if a landowner cut down the only two trees on a five-acre plot of property, that would be defined as a clear-cut. He also said he wants landowner liability pressures reduced for fear of diminishing hunting areas.

Rep. Doug Overbey received one point from Tennessee Conservation Voters for his support of the restoration of the "wetlands fund."

"I think we need to have a fund to preserve and protect wetlands. They are part of what sustains life," he said.

He pointed out that the higher scores went to legislators on committees such as the Environment and Conservation committee. Most bills don't come to a floor vote in the Tennessee General Assembly, so a lot of the points derived from committee actions or sponsorships.

The majority of House members received one or two points -- or negative points. The highest scorer in the House received six points. Neither Overbey nor McCord had any points deducted for "anti-environmental" actions.

Constituents' views

Overbey said his constituent viewpoints guide his environmental platforms.

"I think the folks in Blount County believe the environment is important and finding the right balance is important," Overbey said. "There are different sorts of needs, industrial needs and environmental needs. The job of a legislator is to find a balance between competing needs."

All three legislators mentioned air quality as specific issues of concern to Blount Countians. Clabough and McCord both predicted water issues, such as the transfer of water from one major watershed to another, will dominate the General Assembly's environmental agenda in years to come.

For more information:
www.tnconservationvoters.org