Smoke Signals 5
NOVEMBER 1, 2004
Society Of Environmental Journalists
Bring Host Of Issues Front And Center
The group takes on high government officials and celebrities.
By Ron Karten
The 14-year-old Society of Environ
mental Journalists (SEJ) met in Pitts
burgh late in October with sky high
and ocean deep ambitions. The an
nual conference took aim at green
buildings and brown fields, mining
travesties and sewage backups. It
looked at whether environmental re
porting has left minorities behind and
the extent to which politics infects fed
eral scientific inquiries.
U.S. Department of Energy Science
Director Raymond Orbach said "There
would be hell to pay" if he thought poli
tics was playing any part in the scien
tific decisions coming out of his office,
but he did not convince The New York
Times Senior Science Writer Cornelia
Dean, who said, "It's not just coming
from one side of the aisle or one politi
cal persuasion. It's coming from all
over."
"Private money," she said, "is driv
ing scientific projects."
She said that today in the Grand
Canyon, a book for sale insists that
the world is 6,000 years old and that
the Grand Canyon was formed by the
floods for which Noah built the ark.
In describing scientists who seek to
review her articles before publication,
she quoted them saying, "'But we're
. objective seekers of truth and we have
no ulterior motives,' which is," she
added, "you know, hilarious. . ."
Navajo Times Senior News Reporter
Marley Shebala (NavajoZuni) asked
Environmental Protection Agency Ad
ministrator Michael Leavitt about a 50-year-old
case of government radiation
poisoning on the Navajo reservation.
It needed more study, he said.
The cast of characters included not
only top environmental reporters from
across the U.S. and Canada, but some
heavy hitters from politics, govern
ment, education and entertainment.
In a presentation examining the role
that celebrities play in spurring envi
ronmental causes, actor Ted Danson
was joined by Pittsburgh Steelers
famed running back Franco Harris in
responding to a question about
whether celebrities help with environ
mental issues or trivialize them.
"We provide access," said Danson, a
Board Member of the ocean-focused
group, Oceana (www.oceana.org). He
described how when he is able to do a
photo-op with a senator, staffers for
Oceana get together with staffers for
finance system for a failure to keep the
public informed.
In noting that "the administration
went and tore the heart out of the Clean
Air Act by getting rid of the New Source
rule which was the rule that required
the plants to clean up in the first place
he said that, according to EPA, that
decision alone kills 30,000 Americans
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Celebrity Support Actor Ted Danson appeared with celebrities includ
ing former Pittsburgh Steeler Franco Harris in a panel on "Celebrity, The Media
And The Environment" at the 1 4th Annual Conference of the Society of Environ
mental Journalists in Pittsburgh, October 20-24. Danson said his celebrity made1
him feel "like a five-year-old in a room full of adults."
the senator, and the real work gets
done among the staffers.
The audience also had a surprise
visit from Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of
the presidential candidate John Kerry,
during the session. The Kerry cam
paign had stopped at Carnegie Mellon
University that day. Carnegie Mellon
also was host for the conference.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., senior attor
ney for the National Resources De
fense Council and supporter of many
environmental efforts, blamed a lan
guid press held back by corporate con
solidation, the Reagan-era death of the
Fairness Doctrine and the campaign
every year. Ten World Trade Center
attacks every single year. This should
be the headline of every newspaper in
the country."
The New York Times Environmen
tal Reporter Andy Revkin acknowl
edged that the press has in recent years
"screwed up many aspects of this," but
added that "even if the information got
through those filters... there's a gen
eral lack of scientific and technical lit
eracy of the American public now. In
other words, we can carry the water to
the horse, but we can't make that horse
drink. In fact, Corey Dean, my old edi
tor, used to say that our job is not to
educate. Our job is to inform."
EPA Administrator Michael Leavitt
ticked off five areas where the Bush
administration had made real strides,
but in an interview afterwards,
Greenwire Senior Reporter Darren
Samuelsohn said that the administra
tion could really only take credit for
one, reductions of emissions as a re
sult of a so-called 'clean diesel rule' for
non-road vehicles, though he noted that
the industry already was forced dur
ing the Clinton administration to
change the fuel mix and engine tech
nology for on-road vehicles.
On clean air standards, a subject the
President raised as a success story
during the last debate, Samuelsohn
noted that the Bush administration
was forced under a 2001 Supreme
Court decision to implement Clinton
era standards.
But this conference was not attended
by 700 people walking in lock step. If
many of those attending complained
about Bush administration prevarica
tors, just as many, it seemed, ex
pressed frustration with progressives
like Kennedy.
"He's head of all these environmental
groups, but he didn't say a thing about
what they are doing," said Myra Tho
mas, a New Jersey freelance journalist.
"It was just a political stump speech."
Debra Kroll (Salinas), Book Editor
for Native Peoples, asked about
Kennedy's efforts in behalf of Klamath
River Tribes losing their water rights.
She got no answer.
Marley Shebala said, "Natives are
coming together and voting and "they
have made Arizona a swing state,
along with New Mexico, which is
where you have large Native popula
tions." She asked Kennedy how do
people not just Natives keep na
tional leaders to the promises that
they make.
Kennedy passed the ball back to the
press.
Staff Writer Ron Karten received a
fellowship to this conference.
Road Widening Project Will Save Lives In Grand Ronde
October meeting gives local residents a voice in the 2005 project.
ByPeta Tinda
Grand Ronde Road, the mile-and-a-half
long main artery between High
ways 18 and 22, is set to be widened,
starting in May 2005.
The road widening is a collaborative
effort between the Confederated Tribes
of the Grand Ronde and the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, who participated in the
design and provided some of the fund
ing. The amount of kids w alking to and
from the school has increased since the
building of Grand Meadows and new
Tribal housing; both of which lie adja
cent to the road.
Local residents' safety concerns have
also increased.
"Basically the project was deemed to
be of high safety value," said Larry
Fuhriman, a BIA designer. "Particularly
because of all of the pedestrians and
truck travel on the road. The problem
is there is no refuge for pedestrians."
A meeting was held on Tuesday, Oc
tober 19, by Eric Scott, Tribal Projects
Manager, to
hear from local
residents.
Most were
supportive of
the widening,
although some
expressed con
cern over losing
property to the
road.
To accommo
date the resi
dents, a plan
that included
two-foot wide
planter strips
was scrapped in
favor of the less intrusive plan now in
the works.
The revised plan calls for new 10-
In Danger Children dodge truck traffic
as they walk home from school on Grand Ronde
Road. The road is scheduled to be widened to
include bike lanes and sidewalks in 2005.
foot wide lanes with 5 foot bike lanes,
new sidewalks and new cross walks at
all of the ma
jor intersec
tions. There will
be lights at
the cross
walks along
the 7,800-foot
road.
There are
also plans for
new water
and sewage
lines, as well
as storm
drains.
"It's not pe-
d e s t r l a n
friendly," said Bill Gilley, Public Works
Director for Yamhill County. "There's
just no room to. walk. I think.it will
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save lives and most people understand
that."
Gilley also said that he thinks the
widened road will be a tremendous as
set to the community.
In addition to widening the road, the
Highway 22 intersection will have a
larger turn radius, so that trucks
won't have to turn into oncoming traf
fic, like they do now.
The project is expected to take a least
two working seasons, with work start
ing at the south end at Highway 18.
"The purpose of the project is to
make coming here safer," said Scott.
"People have been supportive. We'll
also be putting in a new sewer main
to replace the one from McPherson
Road to Highway 18."
The new road will be 44 feet in total
width "with most of the main improve
ments taking place between the exist
ing ditches," said Scott.