DOCSLIB.ORG

Natural Resources and the Environment

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Natural Resources and the Environment 11/02/2006 Plenary: ‘A 50 year Perspective on Agricultural and Resource Policy’ Natural Resources and the Environment 1 2 David Godden and Matthew Skellern 50th Annual Conference Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society 8-10 February, 2006, Sydney Abstract Australian environments and natural resources have changed substantially since the Society was founded in 1957, partly as a result of changes to the economy, society, technology, and global conditions. This paper documents changes in the stock and condition of Australia’s environment and national resources 1955-2005, considering how policy has both responded to and influenced those changes. New resources have been discovered (e.g. minerals and some fish stocks); some resources have experienced long-term stock decline in both quantity and quality (e.g. forests and fisheries); new uses have been found for known resources (e.g. coal exports and agricultural commodities); technology and investment have changed the ways resources are extracted and used; and increased incomes have increased demand for outdoor leisure and conservation. These changes have variously increased and decreased the pressures on resources and the environment. Society has responded – both reactively and proactively – to changing environmental conditions and pressures, including increased scales of effects (e.g. climate change and stratospheric ozone globally). Perceptions have also changed about the extent of and proper limits to environmental and resource degradation, and appropriate responses to such degradation.. Insights gained from this retrospective are used to consider prospects for future policy impacts, and in particular how economists might contribute to policy processes concerning the environment and natural resources. Nothing in this paper necessarily represents the policies or views of the NSW Government, the Minister for the Environment, or the Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) 1. Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW), Sydney and Honorary Associate, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Sydney 2. Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW), Sydney 1. Introduction................................................................................................................................ 3 2. Thinking about policy................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Economists analysing policy – induced institutional innovation 4 2.2 Australian institutional issues 5 3. Resources in mid-1950s............................................................................................................ 6 3.1 Agriculture 6 3.2 Forestry 7 3.3 Water 7 3.4 Fishing and marine 8 3.5 Minerals/Energy 8 3.6 Pollution emissions & waste disposal 9 3.7 Biodiversity & landscape conservation 10 3.8 Scourges 12 3.9 ’Of droughts and flooding rains’ 13 4. Resources circa 1980.............................................................................................................. 14 4.1 Agriculture 14 4.2 Forestry 15 4.3 Water 15 4.4 Fishing and marine 16 4.5 Minerals/Energy 17 4.6 Pollution emissions & waste disposal 18 4.7 Biodiversity & landscape conservation 19 4.8 Scourges 19 4.9 ’Of droughts and flooding rains‘ 20 5. Resources around 2005.......................................................................................................... 21 5.1 Agriculture 22 5.2 Forestry 22 5.3 Water 23 5.4 Fishing and marine 24 5.5 Minerals/Energy 26 5.6 Pollution emissions & waste disposal 27 5.7 Biodiversity & landscape conservation 28 5.8 Scourges 29 5.9 ’Of droughts and flooding rains‘ 30 6. Institutional & policy change 1955-2005..................................................................................31 6.1 Commonwealth/State relations 31 6.2 National Competition Policy 35 6.3 Environmental activism and litigation 36 6.4 Native title 38 6.5 Forest policy 40 6.6 Transfer pricing 44 6.7 Evolution of pollution management 45 7. About the future....................................................................................................................... 45 7.1 Trans-boundary 45 7.2 National 48 7.3 Regional 51 8. Role of economics in fashioning policies for current/future problems..................................... 55 8.1 Property rights and market based instruments 55 8.2 Information on economic values of environment 58 8.3 GIS and economics 60 8.4 Inter-temporal 61 8.5 Mythbusters 62 9. Conclusion............................................................................................................................... 65 References.................................................................................................................................. 68 2 1. Introduction It is trite (but correct) to observe that there was extraordinary social, political, economic and technological change in the second half of the twentieth century. The mid-1950s were the height of the Cold War, less than halfway through the Menzies reign, and preceded space flight, the transistor and the Beatles. This social, political, economic and technological change forms the context for the following examination of the Australian environment and natural resources, and related policy. Australian natural resource and environmental conditions and policy have also changed remarkably over the past 50 years.1 In the mid-1950s, agriculture contributed approximately 15% to GDP and comprised 80% of exports.2 Agricultural expansion was seen as essential for economic growth (McEwen1952), and major “national development” projects (such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme and 90 mile desert) were seen as essential to national (economic) development. Apart from icon sites (e.g. Broken Hill, Mt Isa, Kalgoorlie) and coal (still largely underground) for domestic use (iron/steel and electricity generation), mining was a small part of the economy; indeed iron ore exports were prohibited (from 1938-60).3 Environmental damage was highly visible in the agricultural sector, with some management successes.4 Elsewhere, environmental damage was literally visible but largely policy-invisible. By contrast, in the first half of the current decade, agriculture has shrunk to 2.7% of GDP and 23% of merchandise exports5 (notwithstanding valiant efforts to expand the ANZSIC definitions of “agriculture” to include related upstream and downstream activities).6 Mining has dramatically expanded to 6.5% of GDP, with mineral fuels, and ores and metals, each comprising about 20% of merchandise exports (with consequent impacts on the exchange rate and the agricultural sector; Gregory 1976, refined in computable general equilibrium e.g. Higgs 1986). Other natural resource extraction industries expanded beyond long-run sustainable output and have contracted (e.g. some fisheries),7 or became embroiled in controversy over extraction versus 1 Considerable effort has been expended in distinguishing between “(natural) resource” economics, “environmental” economics, “ecological” economics, etc. Nature has bequeathed resources, which can be explicitly exploited (agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining), implicitly exploited (by challenging nature’s “assimilative capacity” through emitting wastes and pollution), or conserved (exploitation prevented). These activities are different facets of related problems, and are addressed similarly by economic analysis; it seems unnecessary to maintain arbitrary and unprofitable distinctions, and we don’t. 2 The farm sector’s contribution to GDP fell consistently from 22-27% of GDP in the early 1950s to about 12% at the end of the decade. Farm exports fell consistently from over 80% of export value at the start of the 1950s to about 75% at the end. 3 for the prohibition, see the following; Blainey (1969, p.348) noted that the WA Government also refused to grant title to explore for iron ore until 1961: http://www.info.dfat.gov.au/info/historical/HistDocs.nsf/vVolume/435C7FF043C60155CA256B7D00810EBF 4 Following European settlement, poor understanding (even disdain) for Australia’s biophysical characteristics led to serious environmental damage which continued into the twentieth century. As part of the disastrous post-World War 1 soldier settlement, farmers were settled in drier margins and quickly succumbed to soil erosion. The WWII Rural Reconstruction Commission noted previous efforts at land clearing had been unwise (and uneconomic), identified serious errors in forestry clearing, and noted development of a “national conscience” about national parks. Even where regulation of land management was attempted, government failure was an ever-present risk. The Rural Reconstruction Commission drew attention to a variety of “unfortunate attempts at regulation and control”, including rabbit control, wind erosion and sand drift, and irrigation control. It noted that bores in the Great Artesian Basin were already beginning suffer reduced flow, or even to fail. A major success against an introduced pest had been achieved via biological control (prickly pear) although offset by the introduction of cane toads. (cf. Godden 1999a) 5 2000-01 to 2001-02; see for example Productivity Commission (2005, Fig 4.1) 6 see Econtech (2005); but note their disclaimer: “This work has been produced for the Australian Farm Institute Limited and Horticulture Australia Limited according to strict instructions. Econtech Pty Ltd makes no representation to, and accepts no liability for, reliance on this work by any
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sydney Catchment Authority Appendices Appendices
    sydney catchment authority appendices appendices 1. Names and qualifications of SCA Board members 95 2. SCA Board attendances at meetings 96 3. Standing committees 96 4. Senior Executive qualifications 97 5. Principal legislation and regulation 97 6. Insurance 98 7. Legal change 98 8. Current legal matters 98 9. Freedom of Information applications and status 100 10. Summary of Affairs 101 11. Schedule of charges for regulated water supply services 102 12. Credit card usage 102 13. Engagement of consultants 103 14. Payment of accounts 103 15. Grants and incentives 104 16. Overseas visits by staff 104 17. Equal opportunity, training and development for staff 105 18. Significant committees established/abolished 105 19. Staff above SES level 5 105 20. Waste reduction and purchasing plan implementation 106 21. Guarantee of Service 106 22. Cost of Annual Report 107 23. Cultural heritage assets 107 24. Publications 108 94 Sydney Catchment Authority Annual Report 2003 - 2004 Sydney Catchment Authority Annual Report 2003 - 2004 95 appendicesAPPENDICESAPPENDICES APPENDICES APPENDICES APPENDICESAPPENDICES APPENDICES APPENDICES 1. Names and Qualifi cations executive positions with the EPA since financial advisory services and he acts as its inception. Prior to this, she held consultant to a number of state and federal of Board Members senior positions with the Ministry for the government departments. Accounting The Board’s membership changed during Environment, AWA Limited, Sydney Water and financial services are provided to 2003-04. The Minister appointed Lisa Board and the Department of Planning. She a diverse client base drawn from both Corbyn to the Board as the Sydney also worked for over 10 years with the US the private and public sectors, including Catchment Authority’s (SCA) Chief Environmental Protection Agency.
    [Show full text]
  • Sydney Water in 1788 Was the Little Stream That Wound Its Way from Near a Day Tour of the Water Supply Hyde Park Through the Centre of the Town Into Sydney Cove
    In the beginning Sydney’s first water supply from the time of its settlement Sydney Water in 1788 was the little stream that wound its way from near A day tour of the water supply Hyde Park through the centre of the town into Sydney Cove. It became known as the Tank Stream. By 1811 it dams south of Sydney was hardly fit for drinking. Water was then drawn from wells or carted from a creek running into Rushcutter’s Bay. The Tank Stream was still the main water supply until 1826. In this whole-day tour by car you will see the major dams, canals and pipelines that provide water to Sydney. Some of these works still in use were built around 1880. The round trip tour from Sydney is around 350 km., all on good roads and motorway. The tour is through attractive countryside south Engines at Botany Pumping Station (demolished) of Sydney, and there are good picnic areas and playgrounds at the dam sites. source of supply. In 1854 work started on the Botany Swamps Scheme, which began to deliver water in 1858. The Scheme included a series of dams feeding a pumping station near the present Sydney Airport. A few fragments of the pumping station building remain and can be seen Tank stream in 1840, from a water-colour by beside General Holmes Drive. Water was pumped to two J. Skinner Prout reservoirs, at Crown Street (still in use) and Paddington (not in use though its remains still exist). The ponds known as Lachlan Swamp (now Centennial Park) only 3 km.
    [Show full text]
  • Groundwater in the Botany Sands Aquifer – Water for the Past, Water for the Future?
    CASE STUDY 1.008 Groundwater in the Botany Sands Aquifer – Water for the past, water for the future? Author: Chris McAuley* The Botany Sands Aquifer is a layer of sand containing a large volume of water surrounding Botany Bay south of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. At a local scale, the aquifer runs from Centennial Park south east of Sydney city centre to the Botany Wetlands and into Botany Bay. The Botany Sands Aquifer is layer of sand filled with water beneath the ground. It covers an area of approximately 141 square kilometres. The average groundwater salinity is around 500 milligrams per litre (mg/L) of dissolved solids. Before European settlement, it formed an important source of water for wetlands supporting aboriginal communities. The Botany Sand aquifer was once Sydney’s main water source. It remains an important source of water for parks, municipal and residential gardens, industry and wetlands. It may form an important part of Sydney’s water future by capturing and storing stormwater for later use. The aquifer is recharged by rainwater percolating through sand and sandstone which act as natural filters to remove solid litter, silt and harmful nutrients. The water holding capacity of the sand aquifer is enormous and has been estimated to contain up to 300 litres of water per cubic metre of sand. It is estimated the aquifer can sustainably supply 22,500 megalitres per year (ML/ yr - a megalitre is one million litres) of groundwater. Currently only approximately 6,000ML/yr is allocated for use. Figure 1: Extent of the Botany Sands Aquifer The groundwater helps to support natural and man-made pond systems along its flow path.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Warrane Street Walk (Student Version)
    STREET WALK YANA GARUWANGA GURAD (WALKING THE STORIES OF COUNTRY) LEFT Plan de la ville de Sydney, 1802. Jean Baptiste Antoine Cloquet after STUDENT VERSION Charles Alexandre Lesueur. State Library of New South Wales: Ref: F980/P Atlas [1811], II RIGHT Portrait of Bungaree, a native of New South Wales, with Fort Macquarie, Sydney Harbour, in background. Augustus Earl, 1826. National Library of Australia: 1 TANK STREAM 2 ABORIGINAL 3 BUNGAREE FOUNTAIN HERALD WALKING TRAILS (BOON-GUH-REE) SQUARE CORNER PITT AND WELCOMES CORNER GEORGE AND ALFRED STREET, NEW ARRIVALS ALFRED STREET, CIRCULAR QUAY CIRCULAR QUAY CIRCULAR QUAY Created and maintained using the careful application of fire, Aboriginal You are standing in a similar spot to The Tank Stream was created by a walking trails throughout Sydney quickly Bungaree in this image, at the harbour fresh water spring that arose from became access routes for European foreshore. Bungaree was born on swamplands in the current day location people upon arrival in Sydney Cove. Guringai Country (Broken Bay) just a few of the city block bordered by Pitt, The walking trails were initially only years before the arrival of Europeans. In Elizabeth, Park and Market Streets. approximately one metre in width and 1798 he went on his first sailing voyage were intended for use by two people to Norfolk Island during which time he DISCUSSION POINTS walking side by side. met Mathew Flinders. Bungaree went How did the European way of on many voyages including the trip to using the freshwater stream DISCUSSION POINTS circumnavigate Australia with Flinders differ from the Aboriginal use? Why do you think new arrivals in from 1801 to 1803.
    [Show full text]
  • Bridge Types in NSW Historical Overviews 2006
    Bridge Types in NSW Historical overviews 2006 These historical overviews of bridge types in NSW are extracts compiled from bridge population studies commissioned by RTA Environment Branch. CONTENTS Section Page 1. Masonry Bridges 1 2. Timber Beam Bridges 12 3. Timber Truss Bridges 25 4. Pre-1930 Metal Bridges 57 5. Concrete Beam Bridges 75 6. Concrete Slab and Arch Bridges 101 Masonry Bridges Heritage Study of Masonry Bridges in NSW 2005 1 Historical Overview of Bridge Types in NSW: Extract from the Study of Masonry Bridges in NSW HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO MASONRY BRIDGES IN NSW 1.1 History of early bridges constructed in NSW Bridges constructed prior to the 1830s were relatively simple forms. The majority of these were timber structures, with the occasional use of stone piers. The first bridge constructed in NSW was built in 1788. The bridge was a simple timber bridge constructed over the Tank Stream, near what is today the intersection of George and Bridge Streets in the Central Business District of Sydney. Soon after it was washed away and needed to be replaced. The first "permanent" bridge in NSW was this bridge's successor. This was a masonry and timber arch bridge with a span of 24 feet erected in 1803 (Figure 1.1). However this was not a triumph of colonial bridge engineering, as it collapsed after only three years' service. It took a further five years for the bridge to be rebuilt in an improved form. The contractor who undertook this work received payment of 660 gallons of spirits, this being an alternative currency in the Colony at the time (Main Roads, 1950: 37) Figure 1.1 “View of Sydney from The Rocks, 1803”, by John Lancashire (Dixson Galleries, SLNSW).
    [Show full text]
  • 7 a Short Geological and Environmental History of the Sydney
    View metadata,citationandsimilarpapersatcore.ac.uk effect on floods and droughts in Australia', Climatic change, vol. 25, pp. 289–317. 7 Wilby R L, 2005. 'Uncertainty in water resource model parameters used for climate change impact assessment', Hydrological Processes, vol. 19, pp. 3201–3219. Young P, 2003. 'Top-down and data-based mechanistic modelling of rainfall-flow dynamics at the catchment scale', Hydrological Processes, A short geological and environmental history vol. 17, pp. 2195–2217. of the Sydney estuary, Australia Young W, Brandis K & Kingsford R, 2006. 'Modelling monthly streamflows in two Australian dryland rivers: matching model complexity to spatial scale and data availability', Journal of Hydrology, Gavin Birch vol. 331, pp. 242–256. Zhang L, Dawes W R & Walker G R, 2001. 'Response of mean annual evapotranspiration to vegetation changes a catchment scale', Water Abstract Resources Research, vol. 37, pp. 701–708. Zhang L, Walker G R & Fleming M, 2002. 'Surface water balance for Sydney is blessed with one of the most beautiful harbours in the world. recharge estimation', CSIRO publishing, Collingwood, Victoria. However, like many large, capital ports world-wide, this environment has been exposed to relentless stress due to a rapidly increasing population density and extensive residential, commercial and industrial expansion. In this chapter, we explain why the coastal zone is such an important environment, especially for the people of Australia, and describe changes to the Sydney estuary as an example of environmental transformation due to anthropogenic pressure. The geologic development of the Sydney estuary is briefly traced, showing how the feature was eroded into the Hawkesbury Sandstone, mainly during low sea levels of the glacial periods.
    [Show full text]
  • New Evidence on Arthur Phillip's First Landing Place 26 January 1788
    New evidence on Arthur Phillip’s first landing place 26 January 1788 Michael Flynn and Gary Sturgess The location of Governor Arthur Phillip’s first landing and the flag-raising ceremony in Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788 has been an issue of dispute and uncertainty among historians since the 19th century. The cove was divided into an east and west side by the Tank Stream and it was clear that the ceremony was held very close to the landing place, as described by Judge-Advocate David Collins. None of the generally known eyewitness accounts mentioned on which side of the cove the landing took place. History is full of blind spots where chroniclers failed to record something that seemed obvious or commonplace at the time, or because there was so much else going on. Since 2011 we have been working on a close analysis of sources, which allow the spot to be pinpointed with much greater accuracy. Early maps and paintings of Sydney Cove and manuscript journals collected by various institutions over time are now readily accessible through online digitisation. New evidence has emerged, the most significant item being an obscure letter from a First Fleet sailor John Campbell identifying the site as lying on the west side of the cove, the only surviving primary evidence from a First Fleeter. This is supported by the 1847 obituary of First Fleet convict John Limeburner and an entry in the 1806 NSW Pocket Almanack, published when Philip Gidley King (an eyewitness) was Governor. All three sources accord with the persistent 19th century oral tradition of a landing at a spot near the bottom of Bethel Steps, The Rocks (behind the south end of the present Overseas Passenger Terminal),i and a flag raising ceremony held on or very close to George Street, between Cadman’s Cottage and the former Mariners’ Churchii at the corner of Hickson Road.iii In 1789 John Campbell, a seaman on the Lady Penrhyn transport, sent a letter specifically indicating the west side location.
    [Show full text]
  • Ground Tanks and the Elusive Indian Archipelago
    Chapter 5 Digging deeper: ground tanks and the elusive Indian Archipelago Heather Goodall THE INLAND RIVERINE PLAINS of western NSW and Queensland, which form important elements of what John McCarty described in the 1970s as the ‘Inland Corridor’, used to be depicted as the stable and productive grain bowl of the national economy. It was certainly the locus of some of the nation’s most powerful settler myths, including the iconic legend of the mateship of the itinerant bush workforce. From the earliest colonial governors, the goal of the settler state had been to bring order to the colony by defining and allocating its land. Survey lines, later materialised as fences, have sym- bolised this focus on land as a basic structure of the economic, politi- cal and social order of the nation, as they marked out the freehold, the leasehold and the reservations, giving boundaries to the names traced onto the parish maps which testified to the consolidation of this symbolic as much as material order. The ethos of the itinerant workers might seem to have contradicted this stable order of set- tled residents, yet for all the camaraderie of the track, bush workers despised, but also longed for, the cocky’s block. McCarty’s work attempted to open up this sense of stability, sug- gesting the region had the qualities of a passageway, yet the sustained desire for a secure and productive rural agriculture proved hard to shift. The focus on land and fence lines has continued, even as the commercial viability of the region has been fragmented by drought and changing markets.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tank Stream Today
    Front cover photo: In the Tank Stream today. Photograph: Sydney Water. The Tank Stream Mason’s marks in the block work inside the Tank Stream tunnel. In recognition of the importance of the Tank Stream to the people of Sydney and New South Wales, it was protected by a Permanent Conservation Order in 1989 and entered on the NSW State Heritage Register in 1999. The Tank Stream is recognised as being of national importance to the European settlement of Australia. Aboriginal occupation Due to the almost immediate impact of European colonists, our knowledge of Sydney’s Aboriginal people is limited. Early settlers casual and systematic observations provide some insight, but basic information is missing or ambiguous. Even the names of the Aboriginal landscape with the names of the stream and the other features in the catchment have been lost. Recently researchers favour Gadigal (often spelt Cadigal) as the name of the group that had some rights and obligations for the land around Sydney Cove. The Gadigal spoke the coastal dialect of Dharug, which makes them part of a larger group within the Sydney region. SW94 09/10 Printed on recycled paper John Skinner Prout, The Tank Stream, Sydney, circa 1842. A tour group inspects the Tank Stream. pencil,watercolour, opaque white highlights, 25.5 x 37.5cm Purchased 1913 Collection: Art Gallery of NSW The Tank Stream runs underground from near Hyde Park to Circular Quay. Photograph: Brenton McGeachie of AGNSW ydney’s first water supply As the water source for both humans and their Major Grose made a significant environmental livestock, it was essential to maintain water quality decision.
    [Show full text]
  • A Strange Natural Environment: Colonists in Eighteenth-Century Sydney
    A Strange Natural Environment: Colonists in Eighteenth-Century Sydney GRAEME APLIN t is important to examine documents and other evidence from the past in the context of the societal norms, knowledge, and perceptions Iof the time, allowing for reinterpretation according to twenty-first- century equivalents without letting these dominate. This article deals with perceptions by the earliest Sydney residents of their new environment in the closing years of the eighteenth century. It also discusses the ways in which that environment limited and otherwise affected their activities. The early colonists’ perceptions of their newfound environment around Sydney Cove and beyond in the last twelve years of the eighteenth century was more crucial in determining how they interacted with it than was a more objective and scientific view of it. The more objective view tended to only come later, especially as ‘experts’ were in very short supply in those early years. Governor Phillip, for example, is Sydney Journal Vol 4, No 1 (2013): 19-37 ISBN: 1835-0151 © UTSePress and the author Sydney Journal | Aplin quoted by Burrell as saying: ‘I must beg leave to observe, with regret… I am without one botanist, or even an intelligent gardener in the colony.’1 Hence decisions involving interactions with the environment were based almost entirely on the perceptions of laypersons. The settlers, by and large, had very little prior information about this strange new place. The few educated, literate persons among the very earliest European settlers may have read reports from Cook’s 1770 expedition, particularly those of Joseph Banks. Later, such people, before they left England, may have seen reports from those already in the colony, but the information contained therein was often inaccurate, as discussed below.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletin May 2000
    THE PADDINGTON SOCIETY • YOUR RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION NEWS BULLETIN Registered by Australia Post Publication No NBG 1470 • PO Box 99 PADDINGTON NSW 2021 • Tel: 9360 6159 May, 2000 PRESIDENT’S REPORT With St John’s Church Site in Oxford Street, we submitted our objections on insensitive and gross The historical nature of Paddington is under over-development of the site. We have liaised with threat as much as ever with the number of large local residents, councillors and Clover Moore developments currently taking place. I feel that MP. We have also written to the National Trust our members are perhaps unaware of just how and the Heritage Council of NSW expressing our actively involved our dedicated committee is in concerns. trying to stem inappropriate and over develop- ment of our suburb. A letter, followed by a submission of objection on another gross over development - the Scottish For several years three members of our commit- Hospital site, has been sent to Woollahra Council. tee, an historian and two architects, worked with Woollahra Council planners, urban designers, heritage consultants and councillors to put into CALLING ON MEMORIES place guidelines specifically for the preservation of Paddington. As a result the ‘Development Please help build the Paddington knowledge Control Plan’ for Paddington has now been bank. Our wonderful collection of photographs, adopted by Council. letters newspaper clippings, conservation plans, submissions are being sorted and catalogued We fully support the local community group ACE by Woollahra Council’s history librarians. on prevention of rezoning and subsequent over development of the White City site. Since April But we would like an even more comprehens- last year we have had representation at the ive history.
    [Show full text]
  • March 9, 2021 Brenda Mallory Chair White House Council On
    March 9, 2021 Brenda Mallory Chair White House Council on Environmental Quality 730 Jackson Pl NW Washington, DC 20506 Via email Re: Utility disconnection moratorium for Tennessee Valley Authority Dear Ms. Mallory, Please find attached petitions signed by over 21,500 people from Tennessee and beyond urging the Tennessee Valley Authority to institute a utility shutoff moratorium throughout its service area. As the letters attached state, “Without electricity, people won’t be able to shelter in homes that are a safe temperature, support remote schooling for their kids, or refrigerate their medicines. It is a decision that literally has life-or-death consequences.” For several months throughout the pandemic, advocates have urged TVA to institute such a moratorium, but to no avail. We now call upon President Biden to act, by issuing an Executive Order directing TVA to keep people’s power on-- the only responsible option during a pandemic. Please also find attached a memo outlining the President’s authority to issue an Executive Order to this effect. Sincerely, Tom Cormons Executive Director Appalachian Voices Erich Pica President Friends of the Earth Cc: Gina McCarthy, White House National Security Advisor Representative Peter DeFazio, Chair, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Senator Tom Carper, Chair, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Representative Frank Pallone, Chair, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Tennessee Congressional delegation Attachments: Executive Actions for Immediate COVID relief and economic recovery via the Tennessee Valley Authority, Appalachian Voices Appalachian Voices petition Appalachia Voices petition signatories Friends of the Earth petition Friends of the Earth petition signatories EXECUTIVE ACTIONS FOR IMMEDIATE COVID RELIEF AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY VIA THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY The Tennessee Valley Authority was established in the 1930s by a federal mandate to bring flood relief, economic stimulus and improved quality of life to the people of the Tennessee Valley.
    [Show full text]