Jobs and a Cleaner Indiana

On March 14, 2008, I attended a meeting and a hearing at the Hammond Civic Center. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) was gathering comments about an air quality permit for the upgrades to the BP Whiting refinery.

The first hour was called a public meeting, where IDEM conducted an open mike session, after the chief of air quality at IDEM announced that the permit would be issued.

The meeting was stacked with union workers wearing 4” BP buttons. I would say 900 of the 1000 in attendance were in this category.

Once again it was "us" versus "them" -- jobs vs. the environment. Why can’t we have clean air, clean water and jobs? After all, workers need both, and the region needs both.

The expanded BP refinery will increase output of lead and CO2 into the air as well as increases in particulates and ammonia into Lake Michigan.

Why is it that a corporation as wealthy ($236 billion in assets) and as profitable ($20.8 billion after tax profits in 2007) as BP would not “do the right thing” and construct a zero discharge facility?

How much more cost would be required in the planned $3.8 billion upgrade? Probably less than 10%. The publicity over a zero discharge refinery would be worth much more than the additional cost. That’s Marketing 101.

When Forbes published their environmental assessments of the fifty states, they had this to say about #49: “Much the same as West Virginia, Indiana received across the board low marks. It had the sixth highest carbon footprint of any state, and four of its metro areas are listed by the American Lung Association as having bad smog problems, and one with an ozone pollution problem. We ranked its water quality worse than only four other states, using PIRG data.”

Of the bottom five, it said “All suffer from a mix of toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption and no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect them to remain that way.”

Just as Bob Dylan knew “you don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” one doesn’t have to be an “environmentalist” to want a clean environment.

Because Indiana cannot attract clean and green businesses, the Daniels administration has made it clear that our economic development policy includes invitations to polluting businesses to a state with weak environmental regulations and lax enforcement.

That is the only option with his policy of “money trumps quality of life.” Until economic development integrates quality of life to create win-win strategies, we all lose.

Let's Begin a Conversation on the Future of Indiana

I'm running for governor as an independent candidate. Yes, it's a grand experiment, since to my knowledge there has never been one. I've been working at this for over a year, and all I can say is that it's very difficult. There is no headquarters to call. Also there's no way to readily connect with independent voters. Take a look at my website, http://www.bonneyforgov.com/. We have a number of issues posted and they are a work in progress. I am very open to anyone who wants to contribute to the dialog. Afterall, it is the peoples' forum just like my administration will be the peoples' government.

I look forward to hearing from you.