Point/Counterpoint: The T-SPLOST

Over the past few months, Atlanta has been bombarded by a deluge of ads advocating and denouncing the T-SPLOST, a 1% sales tax that would be used to fund various transportation initiatives. Amidst the debate, the Tea Party and the Sierra Club have become unlikely allies against the T-SPLOST while, simultaneously, a handful of Atlanta Democrats, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and prominent Republican leaders (including Governor Nathan Deal) have championed the initiative, leaving many voters confused as to what the T-SPLOST really means for them. In an effort to help elucidate the controversial proposal, Students for Environmental Action has curated opinions from two student environmentalists representing the contrasting views and what the T-SPLOST means for environmental and transportation advocates in Georgia.


The T-SPLOST Will Provide Much-Needed Change to Atlanta's Transportation Infrastructure
Candler Vinson, Emory Sustainability; The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance

     The T-SPLOST (Transportation-Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), which will generate nearly eight billion dollars over its ten year lifetime, gives Metro Atlanta the first opportunity in decades to truly upgrade its worn and weathered infrastructure, as well as build new infrastructure that will support the region in the upcoming decades. The project list has been wrought from debates and conversations of the members of the Atlanta Regional Commission's Regional Roundtable, a board made up of local government officials from the 10-county region and the City of Atlanta. The project list that resulted reflects the different needs of different parts of the region. In the city and surrounding, denser neighborhoods, transit improvements are the major focus of the T-SPLOST's funding; it will decrease in-town traffic, give more options for traveling through the city, and help people get from their homes to the major economic and social centers of the city. On the other hand, the suburban areas that surround Atlanta would not be as well serviced by transit (although there are plans to extend transit services to these suburban areas in Clayton, Cobb, South DeKalb, and Henry counties) and are alternatively supported by new roads to provide more routes and more space to alleviate traffic now and prepare for growth in the future.
     When it comes down to it, the T-SPLOST promotes a multi-modal system for getting around Metropolitan Atlanta. This means more options for Atlantans, more connectivity between economic and social hubs, denser development around transit oriented communities, which will attract more younger professionals, appeal to more large corporations, and make it easier for visitors to explore the city; it will also mean less time spent by individuals in their cars, reduced air pollution from exhaust of idling vehicles, decreased commute times, and job creation that spans the course of the ten-year tax period and beyond. Some people will argue that Atlantans don't need to be taxed any more, but it's simple economics: all goods and services must be paid for. Additionally, squabbling over a single penny, 1% on the tax dollar, is petty and selfish compared to the good that will come of it. And anyway, there's a civilian committee that will have the last say on regional projects, and county-wide projects will be voted on locally. Likewise, arguing that the T-SPLOST contains too much funding for transit or too many road projects is foolish and naïve; that is how politics works. Furthermore, it is belittling of the hours upon hours of our elected officials' time spent selecting only the best projects to help Atlantans, and all Georgians, as we step, bike, ride transit, and drive into the 21st Century.


The T-SPLOST Will Be Detrimental to the Long-Term Transportation Health of Atlanta
Heather Hatzenbuhler, Georgia Youth for Environmental Solutions

     As a young progressive who supports the idea of paying for public goods and absolutely loves riding public transit (the Metro is one my favorite things in D.C.), it may be surprising that I will be voting “No” on the TSPLOST tomorrow. This bill, however, does not work to address the major issues related to transportation in the metro Atlanta area, and will actually create more problems than it solves.
The following are a few reasons why I am opposed to the proposal:

1. The administration of the funds is a mess. The money will first go to the Georgia Finance and Investment Commission (GFIC) to be dispersed for transportation projects, which the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) will then funnel to each region. Then the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and Lt. Governor will create a “Citizens Review Panel” to oversee this new tax. This sounds like bureaucratic inefficiency to me, and I seriously doubt that any panel appointed by Mr. Deal will represent the needs and interests of most Georgians.
2. The current list of projects have conflicting priorities that do not present a cohesive vision for transportation. We cannot make mass transportation and automobile commuting easier, faster and
cheaper at the same time. These two things are mutually exclusive. To more accurately address congestion and the negative externalities related to heavy car traffic a gasoline tax or toll is a much more efficient solution.
3. It is unsustainable. It funds far too many expansion projects for roads and rail without any long term plan for funding maintenance and operation of these projects. This is the same kind of short-sided budgeting decision that lead to the bankrupting of MARTA and other transportation projects across the state and the nation.

In the forty minutes it has taken me to write this blog, I have heard five commercials urging me to support the TSPLOST. In our political world where money = speech, I am very skeptical of platforms that have enough financial backing to afford FIVE prime-time commercials on NBC, the official broadcaster of the 2012 Olympics, an event projected to reach an audience of over 5 billion. To me this casts serious doubt on the claim that this tax will benefit all Georgians. I do not claim to be a transportation expert, but I have done my due diligence as a voter to inform myself on the issue. We do need good policy solutions to“Untie Atlanta” but the TSPLOST is not one of them.

A Summer in the Bitterroot

by Mariana Satterly, UGA 2014

My mug of tea empties itself about the same time the sun sets, right around ten here in the evening. After a day spent polishing assessments, a novel and a relaxing meal on the back porch suits my disposition perfectly. The view from the house where I have now spent six weeks affords a panoramic display of the Bitterroot Mountains, an impressive range that reaches over 10,000 feet into the star-filled Montana sky. This is the backdrop for the MPG Ranch, the conservation property where I will spend the better half of my summer as an intern.

Luckily for me, a last-minute scramble to fill a few free weeks in my summer brought MPG to my attention, and an earnest desire to work with an environmental organization along with a car that would take me to Montana brought this UGA undergrad, a suitcase, and a new pair of hiking boots to the ranch. I was welcomed by a host of researchers and seasonal crews, all outdoors enthusiasts, and quickly felt at home with the white-tailed deer, mule deer, and elk with whom I share the slopes. This “ranch” operates as a conservation property, a field station and project site for restoration ecology. With over 8600 acres of rangeland, forest, and riparian resplendence, the staff here have their hands full with wildlife management and rehabilitation efforts. Black bears and mountain lions patrol the “boondocks,” the new-growth woodlands just over the mountains in my backyard, and a moose and her calf shelter in our wetland addition to the floodplain of the Bitterroot River on the east of the property. The birders point out the cedar waxwings and blackbirds that badger the increasing number of raptors in our skies, and a great-horned owl stood sentinel late in the night last week on my fence. I am surrounded by a vivid wilderness on land still visibly healing from decades of unsustainable ranching, proof that MPG’s efforts, only a few years old, are already working.

My job here is highly self-determined. As an English and Economics major, I do not easily blend into the mix of restoration ecologists, mycologists, and botanists conducting research. However, I share a passion for environmental stewardship, and I shadow everyone involved in their daily efforts creating a natural landscape in this already beautiful valley. I serve as a volunteer of all trades, so to speak, and investigate my own projects on the side. The ranch’s operations, funded by a sole, generous benefactor, make for a unique efficiency that caters to this mix of private and state trust land, and it has been my task of late to envision for the ranch a transition to nonprofit status. My assessment now complete, I will conclude my internship with a survey of herbicide application (as it pertains not only to human health but to our restoration efforts) and a public guide to the MPG Ranch to encourage community knowledge of our work and expand our outreach programs.

Could I get any luckier? I spend the weekends exploring this beautiful state, fishing in alpine lakes, eating from the garden, floating the river, hunting for mushrooms, hiking through the mountains, and engaging with Missoula, a liberal, music-making, bike-filled city much like Athens. Most thrilling is the thought that just about everyone here is involved in some form or another in the battle to protect the environment. Whether it’s Tanner, who hopes to manage fisheries restoration once he’s out of school, Ylva, who is making ground-breaking discoveries in mycorrhizae research in invasives, or the local farmer, who preaches sustainable land use practices, it’s inspiring. I can only hope to be involved in such an essential and successful project when I choose a career. Maybe I’ll try my luck again here, in this rich community; not only is this valley worth the visit, it’s worth the time.

Fall 2012 Meeting Times!

Hey hey SEA,

Here is SEA's meeting schedule this semester. All meetings will be at 5:30 pm!

8/22 - MLC 268
9/5 - MLC 268
9/19 - MLC 250
10/3 - MLC 268
10/17 - MLC 268
10/31 - MLC 268
11/14 - MLC 250
11/28 - MLC 214

Please email ugasea@gmail.com if you have any questions! To sign up for ListServ updates, visit bitly.com/SEAListServ

We look forward to seeing you in August!

Spring Semester Sustainability in Action (SIA) Immersion Program in Costa Rica

by Dr. Quint Newcomer, Director, UGA Costa Rica

Sooner or later, a school of higher education—perhaps a school that teaches teachers—is going to realize the potential and create an entire program devoted to connecting people to nature.  Enter this program, learn about the benefits of human restoration through the natural world, and then decide what profession you will choose (law, education, urban planning, or any other) to apply that knowledge and intent.

-Richard Louv, The Nature Principle: Human Restoration   

 and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder, p. 282

UGA currently offers certificate programs in Organic Agriculture, Local Food Systems, Environmental Ethics, and is in the process of creating a new Certificate in Sustainability.  Additionally, all of the SEC universities and Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) support degree programs in Environmental Studies and/or Environmental Sciences, and many now offer majors, minors, and Sustainability certificates of their own. None of these programs, however, offer semester-long, faculty-led, international field experiences that integrate coursework across a range of associated classes.

To address this gap, UGA Costa Rica has developed a new semester-long immersion program available to UGA students, as well as those at SEC and ACS institutions. The courses offered, taught by UGA faculty—including two Meigs Professors, Dr. Jim Porter and Dr. Dean Rojek—will count directly toward Environmental Studies majors (and minors) as well as to the UGA Organic Agriculture, Local Food Systems, Environmental Ethics, and Sustainability Certificate Programs.

Location

The cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica are one of the most biodiverse terrestrial places on the planet. These forests envelop the Continental Divide bridging the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica with the Pacific, sloping down toward the thriving wetlands and mangrove forests at the Gulf of Nicoya coastline via the Bellbird Biological Corridor (BBC), a 256mi² region (see map, right). This region is the living classroom setting in which the Sustainability in Action program will take place, with the forests, streams, farms, and human communities in the BBC and throughout Costa Rica serving as the laboratory for instruction and research.

Program of Study

As part of the cultural immersion experience, students will live with local families in San Luis for two weeks during the program (within walking distance to the UGA Costa Rica campus).

The program will include course offerings in:

·       environmental ethics, values and policy (EETH 4230)

·       environmental sociology (SOCI 3400)

·       conservation ecology (ECOL 3530)

·       global climate change (ECOL 2100)

·       organic agriculture (AESC 3125)

·       applied GPS and GIS project (FANR 5900 or FORS 5950)

·       Spanish (beginning and intermediate from first through fourth semester; composition and conversation for those who have completed intermediate)

·       independent study / independent research (for those who have already taken one or more of the courses above and prefer to work with our faculty on a special project)

This experience will include site visits to EARTH University, one of Costa Rica’s leading academic institutions focusing on sustainable agriculture in the Tropics; to Rancho Margot, a privately-owned sustainable farm on the shores of Lake Arenal; and to the farms of Rodrigo Crespo, one of the partners in the Bellbird Biological Corridor initiative. Students will observe a wide variety of agricultural land uses, from small-scale shade-grown coffee to vast pineapple and banana plantations and cattle pastures. In addition, they will study within montane and pre-montane forests, dry forests, mangroves and wetlands, gaining a better appreciation for the connectedness of different forest types across a relatively small region. And they will meet fishermen, ranchers, coffee farmers, tourism operators, and commercial developers, as well as government and NGO representatives, gaining insight into the social and institutional realities that shape land-use decision making. They will also be actively involved on the organic farm at the UGA Costa Rica campus, learning to evaluate and prepare soils, grow herbs and vegetables, apply integrated pest management and weed controls, and more. Finally, as part of the global climate change course, students will work with Dr. Jim Porter to evaluate the impacts of changing climate conditions on butterflies in San Luis.

Faculty

With the exception of Spanish language courses, which are taught by faculty from the University of Costa Rica, all courses will be taught by University of Georgia faculty.

·       Dr. Jim Porter, Odum School of Ecology

·       Dr. Jackie Mohan, Odum School of Ecology

·       Dr. Scott Connelly, Odum School of Ecology

·       Dr. Peter Hartel, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

·       Dr. Kris Irwin, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

·       Dr. Dean Rojek, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences (Department of Sociology)

The program will also incorporate many guest lectures from Costa Rica experts.

For More Information

For more information on the program, please visit the UGA Costa Rica website, www.ugacostarica.com, or contact the UGA Costa Rica Director, Dr. Quint Newcomer, at quintn@uga.edu.