THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
When I read the profile on John A. Barnes, the new editorial page editor, I welcomed his views and hoped he would keep his word by ``not catering to a specific constituency.'' My hopes were dashed by ``Environmental agenda'' (editorial, July 3). It is apparent that Mr. Barnes, a newcomer to Virginia and its political and environmental issues, has already formed a negative opinion about all groups that would ensure that our commonwealth's precious natural environment is protected and preserved.
The editorial was a blatant attempt to discredit a truly respectable - and moderate - environmental organization, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which has worked effectively with businesses, lawmakers and private land owners for more than two decades to provide the best possible protection for our state's once bountiful, but now dwindling, natural resources.
Groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation monitor government to ensure that there are adequate safeguards in place and that regulations are being enforced to protect the environment for the public interest. To believe that business and corporations, left alone and with no restraints, are all that is needed to provide a healthy environment for all citizens is questionable.
I hope that Mr. Barnes will become educated on the symbiotic relationship between the lives of the Bay and the lives of the population surrounding it. Mr. Barnes' laissez-faire view of environmental protection would be laughable if it weren't so frightening.
JOAN DAMSEY
Suffolk, July 14, 1994 by CNB