As you may be aware by now, a major victory has been declared in the fight to stop Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals from strip mining land adjacent to our Okefenokee National Wildlife Reserve in order that the world never run out of toothpaste whitener.
The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit specializing in acquiring at-risk lands, announced it has purchased the property for just under $60 million from Twin Pines who can go crawl back in the hole from whence they came. Good riddance.
The acquisition was made possible by financial support from some of the country’s major philanthropic organizations, including the James M. Cox Foundation and the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit funded by the outdoor apparel firm, Patagonia.
Jim Kennedy is chairman of the James M. Cox Foundation and chairman emeritus of Cox Enterprises, the parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I have known Jim Kennedy off-and-on over the years. He is a passionate environmentalist. The Okefenokee could not have a more formidable advocate.
Thus ends a six-year fight that has seen a dismaying lack of political leadership in our state. This issue should have been resolved years ago. Warnings from scientists at the University of Georgia and the federal government that mining Trail Ridge adjacent to the Okefenokee would diminish the swamp’s water budget and increase the frequency of drought and wildfires fell on deaf ears.
Politicians from Gov. Brian Kemp to Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to House Speaker Jon Burns and assorted sycophants in the Legislature either impeded efforts to stop this boondoggle or looked the other way despite a tremendous outpouring of support from constituents to stop the project. The decision as to whether or not to issue the necessary permits was left in the hands of a bunch of faceless bureaucrats in the state Environmental Protection Division.
Senate majority leader Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, informed We the Unwashed that the question of strip mining our Okefenokee should be left to the bureaucrats, not elected officials. “Those are decisions that shouldn’t be made by political entities. We have to let our regulatory agencies do their jobs.” Say what? Isn’t this what we elect these politicians to do? By the way, Gooch is running for lieutenant governor. Remember that comment when election time comes around.
Also, Cong. Buddy Carter, whose district includes most of the Okefenokee, publicly castigated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their opposition to the Twin Pines proposal, calling the agency’s assessments of the project “propaganda.” He is running for the U.S. Senate. Remember that, too.
Kudos to state Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, who introduced several bills to ban mining on portions of Trail Ridge, but to no avail. And applause to Georgia’s political Odd Couple: Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff who has made no bones about his opposition to the project and former Republic governor and current chancellor of the University System of Georgia Sonny Perdue, who was also President Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary, for urging the Trump administration to designate our Okefenokee as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
And a special call-out to attorney Josh Marks, president of Georgians for the Okefenokee, who has played a major role in the fight against the Twin Pines proposal. This is not his first rodeo. He was involved in a similar effort in the late 1990s when DuPont tried to mine thousands of acres on Trail Ridge. That was quashed thanks in large part to the opposition of Gov. Zell Miller.
Marks suggests we not fold up our tent and go home just yet. He says, “The threat is not over by a long shot. We must now turn our attention to the other big mining threat: Chemours. For the last 2 years, Chemours has ignored repeated requests for a public pledge that it will permanently avoid having anything to do with mining at the swamp. In addition, the Legislature should redouble its efforts to finally pass, and Governor Kemp should sign, the Okefenokee Protection Act, which will safeguard the swamp’s edge forever so that we don’t have to keep having these fights every 20 years.”
I wonder if Chemours – a spinoff from DuPont – is willing to put their reputation and their shareholders’ investments in jeopardy in an ill-begotten effort to strip mine our Okefenokee. If so, they had best remember that our politicians can sit on their hands and cozy up to special interest groups all they like. But not We the Unwashed. We have just tasted victory. It tastes good. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139
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