Will Action Agenda bring money to Puget Sound?
Will the economic stimulus package being formulated by President-Elect Barack Obama align with the financial demands of cleaning up Puget Sound?
Several speakers celebrating yesterday’s approval of the Puget Sound Partnership’s Action Agenda said that is exactly where Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to go. See my story in today’s Kitsap Sun.
If that’s true, and Gregoire is able to pull this off, it would be an amazing turnaround. Many of us were thinking that shrinking government revenues would force major cutbacks in state spending — including a retreat in the effort to clean up Puget Sound. Instead, we’re being led to believe that the effort can survive tough economic times.
It’s not clear whether Gregoire will shift funds around to increase, or even continue, existing funding levels for Puget Sound. It’s not evident that she’s even thinking about issuing state bonds to jump-start the effort. And, although the federal government has the ability to print money, we’ll have to see how much fiscal constraint takes place at the federal level and how Puget Sound cleanup fits into the national picture.
Of course, it never hurts to have U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, one of the strongest advocates for Puget Sound, holding a few purse strings in Congress.
Where will the political winds blow? Will the public get behind the Partnership, perceiving local waters as the lifeblood our culture and economic well-being? Or will people be outraged by the notion of spending money to improve water quality and protect plants and animals while people are suffering?
It will be fun to watch the public debate over the next month or two.
One last note about the Action Agenda, something that I’ll need to follow up with further reporting: Why did the Leadership Council retreat from numerical goals, measured by “benchmarks”? I was prepared to put together a list of the “current conditions” along with goals that will bring Puget Sound closer to a healthy condition. The final document deleted most of the numerical goals listed in the draft while expanding the description of current conditions.
I suspect that the simple answer will be that the benchmarks need more work by the Partnership’s Science Panel. But I’ll try to dig into the questions about whether benchmarks can truly represent ecosystem health. In other words, can anyone be comfortable using a few benchmarks to measure restoration progress, given the enormous complexity of the Puget Sound ecosystem?
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Tags: Puget Sound Partnership
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
There is, FINALLY, a long overdue discussion about addressing our nation’s critical infrastructure crisis. It will be unfortunate if that effort is hijacked and the money goes to projects like Puget Sound cleanup. Environmental restoration is a worthy goal, but it would be a shame if we use this opportunity for ever more bureaucrats and studies as our roads, bridges, drinking water systems and wastewater systems crumble beneath us.