December 18, 2006
I believe most people miss some very important points in this debate over whether Concord and Kannapolis should be allowed to siphon off 26 million more gallons of water per day from the Catawba River.
When, exactly, would this Inter-Basin Transfer (IBT) actually begin to occur, should the N.C. Environmental Management Commission approve it in January? 2035…let me emphasize that…2035! In almost 30 years, most of the people who are arguing so vehemently right now, on one side or the other, will be dead! For the most part, if Concord and Kannapolis get their approval, this current “political generation” won’t even be around.
So, the unfortunate truth is that our children and grandchildren—most of whom are either too young to care, or are unborn—are ignorant of the facts of this battle and likely to stay that way. This current generation already has fouled up the future for our posterity. Have we polluted the world they will inherit? Have we left their government finances in a mess?
An ill-conceived and unwieldy process like this one regarding IBTs in North Carolina is, itself, a not-so-amusing joke. What were our state legislators smoking when this little measure crept into the room? I believe in planning ahead, but what kind of law is it that requires a 30-year planning process for IBTs, and then locks in regulatory decisions so as to ignore future advances in science or technology that might some day offer better solutions? In their zeal to take “politics” out of the process, our esteemed legislators also extracted the common sense!
The General Assembly needs to revisit this statute and its processes immediately, remembering this time which generation the law really affects. Likewise, this debate should inspire parents to help their children—and their children’s children—to get involved in the political process as early in life as possible. Ignorance of what our state government did 30 years ago may some day haunt today’s young people. They’ve got to get past the bad smell and taste of partisan politics and look at the real effects—and understand how to get bad laws changed!
I support Hickory mayor Rudy Wright and other elected leaders in the Catawba River basin who are standing up to the N.C. Environmental Management Commission with a promise to take this IBT decision to court. Frankly, the commission would be doing everyone a favor if it would approve the Concord/Kannapolis request. That way, we would get to a consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court much sooner—and perhaps avoid the necessity of having to deal with any more IBTs by other thirsty cities which have planned so poorly with their own resources.
The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution lists one purpose as to “secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” There’s also a constitutional principle in America that no one may be denied life, liberty or property without “due process of law.” That’s why killers on Death Row can get years of appeals. But where’s the “due process” for that generation which goes to get a drink of water in 2035?
The principles which require it were written in 1787
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