Sparks Reaches Out to Alabama's Environmentalists
March 1st, 2010by Glynn Wilson
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — One of the few major contenders for governor promised “access” to the largest gathering of progressive environmental activists in the state on Sunday if he is elected, an indication that even in the conservative land of Alabama the cold war against science that dominated the Bush-Riley era may be on the verge of a serious thaw.
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| Glynn Wilson |
| Ron Sparks answers questions from the Alabama Rivers Alliance crowd Sunday in Montgomery |
“When I become governor my door will be open to you,” Ron Sparks, the Fort Payne Democrat, pledged. “I will listen to you, rely on sound science and use common sense.”
More than 100 community organization leaders, citizen activists and concerned citizens held the first professional conference of its kind in the state this past weekend when the Alabama Rivers Alliance graduated from the annual nature field trip workshop to a full blown hotel and conference center affair in downtown Montgomery, a shot over the bow of Alabama’s entrenched corporate polluters.
Sparks also indicated to a luncheon audience from all over the state and region that he would work to move Alabama from the good old boy spoils system to the merit system when it comes to major appointments. He indicated he would not run the state like President George W. Bush ran the country for eight years, appointing the likes of unqualified FEMA director Michael “Brownie” Brown, or like Governor Bob Riley has run the state — appointing a two-time Oil Man of the Year to run the Department of Conservation, for example.
“I love the environment and the outdoors,” Sparks said.
He talked some about growing up around Little River Canyon in the northeastern part of the state.
He indicated he has been a duck hunter for many years, and he went through a detailed list of accomplishments in his time at the Department of Agriculture to show he has the experience of dealing with major issues.
He oversaw the food safety crisis when 600 people got sick from Mexican onions fertilized with human wastewater, as well as the “tomato crisis.”
“Your food is safer today,” he said.
As commissioner of agriculture, he also implemented programs to properly dispose of unused chemicals stored on farms across the state. He started a new well monitoring program, and he has not been afraid to penalize farmers for misusing chemicals, he said.
“I’m not a tool of special interests,” he said.
He apologized for some of the farm operations permitted in the past, but then he said, to an appreciative round of applause: “I am proud to say no hog farm has been permitted since I’ve been commissioner.”
He has always worked to implement Best Management Practices, he said, and he is a pioneer in sustainable agriculture.
Bill Johnson, former assistant director of the Alabama Department of Community Affairs under Riley and a former Birmingham city councilman, also spoke and took questions at the lunch. He’s a long-shot Republican who joined the race after a split with Riley on ethics issues.
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| Glynn Wilson |
| Bill Johnson is running for governor of Alabama as a Republican, though he’s been shunned by party leaders in the state… |
Johnson is the sole pro-gambling Republican in the race, and apparently the only one who cares enough about the natural environment of Alabama the Beautiful to make an appearance.
He mostly talked about how his experience as a soldier of fortune and medic in the Mid-East and Central America during the Reagan years shaped him to stand up for what is right in spite of the personal or political price, which is why he stood up to Riley by filing the ethics complaint against Trey Glenn, the director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management who recently resigned.
That announcement was also greeted with a round of applause from what is growing into one of the most influential groups of leaders on the Alabama political scene.
“I was inspired to do what’s right — legally and morally — in spite of the cost,” Johnson said. “And I have a clear conscience today.”
He is publicly supporting the legalization, taxation and regulation of gambling in the state, as is Sparks.
Johnson also pledged to appoint qualified people to office, not corporate cronies, and vowed to be an advocate for the environment if elected.
Nobody knows where Sparks’ opponent in the Democratic Primary, Artur Davis, stands on computerized gaming, but the other Republicans in the race seem to be standing with Riley in his ongoing war on bingo — the issue that has dominated the airwaves and the race in recent months.
Most of the people listening at the Troy University campus in Montgomery would agree the “bingo” issue is a sideshow to a lot of major issues and stories in the state, especially the ongoing crisis over TVA’s toxic coal ash being shipped by train load after train load to Alabama’s Black Belt.
That story is growing into a massive environmental injustice and has received major national attention, but not so much coverage in the mainstream media in Alabama, which has followed every little sensational detail about the gambling controversy.
(More to come on coal ash, including new aerial photos and video).
Tags: Ron Sparks
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