The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources would lose 160 jobs, nearly 5 percent of its workforce, under a Republican-crafted budget the state Senate approved Thursday. The budget also moves three DENR divisions to other departments.
But the budget also cuts other environmental programs that you might not miss until they're gone.
Among them are state trust funds for conservation and parks. The Clean Water Management Trust Fund, a crucial force in many of the state's largest conservation deals, would be hit hard. The budget repeals a statutory mandate that the fund get $100 million a year, cutting it to a $11.25 million appropriation. It also prohibits spending money on land acquisition in most cases.
Millions more would be taken from two funds whose revenues, from deed stamp and real estate excise taxes, have plummeted since the recession. The budget diverts $8.4 million from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, which made $9.2 million in grants for local parks last year. It takes $8 million from the Natural Heritage fund, which had income of only $13.1 million in 2010. Natural Heritage has quietly helped protect 301,000 acres of wild land since 1987.
DENR would lose three of its five-member environmental education staff. The office was created during former Gov. Jim Martin's administration of the late 1980s to balance regulations - which also have come under attack by this legislature - with a sense of public stewardship of the state's resources. Raleigh, ironically, will host the North American Association for Environmental Education's international conference in October.
Finally, the budget zeroes out money for an innovative program that shed new light on the health of the nation's second-largest (but least-understood) estuary, Pamlico Sound. The 2,000-square-mile sound nurtures all manner of sea life, including most of the commercially important species.
The FerryMon project, conceived in 2006 by UNC and Duke University coastal scientists, equips state ferries to collect water samples and transmit water-quality data. The data helps scientists understand the effects of storms and pollutants on the sound. It has shown, for instance, that heavy rains followed by drought can trigger algal blooms that cause fish kills.
What else could we learn about this vast resource? We may never know.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
New budget will hammer enviro programs
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
9 comments:
It's hard to have your cake and eat it, too, when you have no money with which to buy flour and eggs.
>> What else could we learn about this vast resource?
I don't care, but since you do, you can pay to find out.
"Among them are state trust funds for conservation and parks."
We cannot afford conservation or parks!
"... an innovative program that shed new light on the health of the nation's second-largest (but least-understood) estuary..."
We cannot afford healthy estuaries!
"...the effects of storms and pollutants on the sound."
We cannot afford to understand the effects of storms and pollutants!
But most importantly, we should not be insane enough to raise taxes one penny to help pay for schools or environmental programs. Companies or individuals will simply not move to a healthy living environment or a quality educational system in NC if they have to have to pay for those frivolous expenditures.
I'm surprised people aren't packing up and heading down to Columbia, SC where the taxes are lower.
I don't take any complaint about the budget seriously unless people who bemoan cuts to their preferred programs identify what programs should have been cut instead.
All of the things listed may be worthy of funding, but they're a drop in the bucket for a nearly $20 billion budget. What should have been cut instead? The author should be more clear about what government is spending money on that he thinks it shouldn't.
I had some business dealings with the NCDENR about a year ago. It took them 14 weeks to respond to a letter I wrote to them. If they are that inefficient and unresponsive their funding should be cut.
I have dealt with DENR in the past and it was a very negative experience. They took forever to respond to requests and when doing so their responses were not complete or did not address the issue at hand.
We can't afford all of thes "progressive" wonderful ideas that have grown ove the last several years.
Clearly from these citizen (?) comments, environmental education was a waste of time during their grade school years. May God have mercy on their callus souls.
As for taxes, I'd gladly pay higher taxes to ensure a clean, healthful environment for our children and grand children.
ummmm annon 10:13
You can write the check directly to yer favorite tree hugger. See, this is America, you have the freedom to take out your checkbook and write that check. Go ahead, we won't stop you.
Says Anonymous - "I had some business dealings with the NCDENR about a year ago. It took them 14 weeks to respond to a letter I wrote to them. If they are that inefficient and unresponsive their funding should be cut."
So the brilliant solution is to slash their budget, thereby making sure the employees that are left will have even less time and fewer resources with which to respond.
Why didn't we think of this sooner?!!?1!1
It's the republican way to destroy government and then whine about how, for some reason, it doesn't work anymore.
Post a Comment