A bit of an update: It has been a little more than two months since our Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and to my knowledge, the United Nations has not installed a One World curriculum in the Charlton County school system or begun microchipping stray cats in Ware County. In fact, a check of other cities in the U.S. that have World Heritage Sites seem to indicate they have successfully resisted a U.N. takeover, although there are rumors that the local buffalo in Yellowstone have been acting a bit strange lately. You just never know what buffalos might be up to.
As for our Okefenokee, all seems well except that the issue of mining the area for titanium dioxide so that the world never runs short of toothpaste whitener still remains a possibility. We seem to be in a temporary timeout.
Much will depend on how important the issue is to our new governor, be it Republican Rick Jackson or Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms. Neither have mentioned mining in our Okefenokee thus far that I am aware of. I hope someone will remember to ask them.
The key, of course, is the Legislature. How much pressure will they feel from pro-mining or from anti-mining forces? I remind you that in a democracy, all political decisions are made with either the application of pressure or its absence. So far, it has been a stalemate. In a clumsy effort to absolve themselves of having to take the heat, legislators tried to cop out from making a decision by claiming it was for the bureaucrats in the state Environmental Protection Division to decide. Your reaction, along with many others, put the heat right back where it belongs – the people we elected, not unelected bureaucrats.
Bipartisan efforts to institute a permanent ban or even a temporary moratorium on drilling were bottled up in the House Natural Resources Committee and never saw the light of day, thanks to its chair, Lynn Smith, R-Newnan, who never saw fit to respond to your questions as to why. Thankfully, she is history. The Sphinx has retired. “Chairwoman Smith has established a legislative legacy that will safeguard the environment and natural treasures across our state for future generations to cherish,” intoned House Speaker Jon Burns. Oh, please. Tell that to Pogo the Possum.
Advocates for a permanent ban on drilling aren’t taking any chances. For them, the beat goes on. On Friday, October 16, the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick is hosting a day-long Okefenokee science symposium featuring a number of scientific speakers on all aspects of the swamp. You can find more information on the College of Coastal Georgia website.
On Saturday, October 17, Georgians for the Okefenokee along with Georgia Interfaith Power and Light and Adamah ATL are co-hosting Sabbath at the Swamp, a multi-faith prayer service at the swamp’s edge. It will be followed by a catered, working lunch and then a boat tour of the swamp. For details, go to the website of the Georgia Interfaith Power and Light.
And then there is the Student Swamp Coalition, a consortium of undergraduate and graduate students from 10 schools in the state including UGA, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University, Coastal College of Georgia, Kennesaw State University, Columbus State University, Emory University, The Galloway School, and Summerour Middle School.
They are focused on big corporations like including Home Depot, Procter and Gamble, Mondelez and Chemours and others who either use titanium dioxide or sell products that contain the mineral, asking them to find another source. Of course, they have been ignored and dismissed by the corporate suits.
I have some bad news for said corporations. I was once a corporate suit myself. (Look it up.) These students aren’t going away. Neither are the anti-mining coalitions. Neither are a group of active and responsive readers and the organizations they represent from all over Georgia who take mining in and around our Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge up-close-and-personal. Neither am I. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
As stated earlier, things are on hold at the moment as we await the upcoming elections and a new cast of characters (along with some holdovers) under the Gold Dome. And then the fight to allow the mining of titanium dioxide in the Okefenokee area or to ban it will likely heat up again. As that noted philosopher Yogi Berra stated, "It ain't over till it's over." And this one ain’t over. Stay tuned.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.
