Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511250001
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GERALD P. MCCARTHY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Why? Because no entity other than government - despite its inherent democratic inefficiencies- can be trusted to do the job fairly. And doing the job is critical to our individual and communal well-being.
Article XI of the Virginia Constitution states, "It shall be the Commonwealth's policy to protect its atmosphere, lands and waters from pollution, impairment or destruction for the benefit, enjoyment and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth." The framers of the constitution obviously believed environmental protection is a fundamental governmental responsibility. They trusted democratic processes to establish balanced standards and elected officials to carry out the mandates of the constitution.
Our poll shows that voters in the Old Dominion are in tune with this belief. When asked if we have too much governmental regulation in this country and whether it should be reduced, deregulation was the clear choice by a margin of 73 percent to 21 percent. However, when we then asked respondents if they agreed that governmental regulation of the environment should be reduced, only 41 percent agreed while a solid majority of 55 percent disagreed.
We then asked whether there should be decreased regulation of toxic and hazardous wastes? An overwhelming 76 percent said no. What about water pollution? Seventy-one percent said no. When the question was posed for drinking water, 71 percent said no. For coastal areas, wetlands and air pollution there were similarly large majorities against weakening regulations.
At this point we asked the same question we had asked before about whether there should be a cutback in governmental regulation of the environment. Now 63 percent (rather than the prior 55 percent) opposed cutbacks, with only 30 percent (rather than 41 percent) favoring such reductions. Clearly, the more specific the potential threat, the greater the support for retaining the protective canopy of regulation.
But this conservative (and conservation-minded, it seems) electorate is also in favor of reforming the administration of environmental regulations. That choice prevails by 52 percent to 39 percent over the status quo, with 6 percent for cutting back.
We asked what kind of reform voters had in mind and provided three choices. The first was planning for economic growth so that it doesn't endanger the environment(some call this "sustainable development"); 88 percent said it's a good idea. Should business be part of the process? Of course, 83 percent agree. What about letting businesses reduce pollution in their own way with minimum standards? By a 2-1 margin, 63 percent to 31 percent, respondents don't want business to regulate itself.
Virginia voters understand that voluntary pollution control is unlikely to be an especially high priority in the free-market system. That is not an anti-business observation, but a pragmatic and realistic one. The business of business is making a profit - not saving the environment. These companies are fighting for their share in a highly charged marketplace, and it is unrealistic to expect them to behave like lambs.
Business wants our trust. That's fine. But it's better, much better to verify as well.
Our respondents were critical of the business-audit legislation passed in the most recent session of the General Assembly. In its present form it requires neither a clean-up schedule nor the full disclosure of pertinent information. Perhaps that is why respondents rejected the new law by 57 percent to 33 percent.
It would be pointless and self-defeating to pit business against environmental interests. The two are not antithetical, just different. As our poll suggests, Virginia voters believe we should let business do its job, and government fulfill its responsibilities - as clearly and eloquently articulated in the constitution of the commonwealth.
Gerald P. McCarthy is executive director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment in Richmond.
- Virginia Forum
by CNB