Chickening out?

With the onset of the world downturn a few years ago, some of us wondered aloud what this might mean for the pursuit of environmental issues. Of course, environmental targets are often caught up in ever-stricter regulatory frameworks, so there was little likelihood of such issues dropping off the agenda completely.

But you might have been forgiven that popular feeling might be much less fussy when jobs and growth are at stake. Actually, it seems as if people don’t automatically act in such an instrumental manner.

For example, Sanderson Farms recently proposed to build a chicken-processing plant in Nash County, North Carolina, US, that has been projected to bring more than 1,000 jobs to the area. The Nash County Board of Commissioners have voted four to three to rezone the property, which would allow the plant to be built. A final decision is expected from the company by the end of the year.

However, residents have voiced pollution concerns in regard to air and drinking water. One resident, Kathy Williamson, said: ‘Once this plant gets here, it’s too late and it’s not worth our future. I know it’s 1,100 jobs, but it’s 1,100 low-paying jobs.’ The Board of Commissioners has intimated that it will be able to put such concerns to rest.

Whether the concerns of residents turn out to be well founded or not, it transpires that people can clearly see beyond a limited economic rationale even in the middle of the worst economic downturn for a generation. Environmentalism is here to stay.

Lyndon White
Editor, Processingtalk

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