Stop I-3 Coalition Newsletter
January, 2007
Notes
from the Chair — Time to End “Earmarks”
The new leadership of the 110th Congress has vowed to strictly
limit appropriation earmarks under its watch. That is good
news for those of us opposed to Interstate 3 (I-3) and other
wasteful spending of our tax dollars. Earmarks are a favorite
tool in Congress. They are used to bring home money for pet
projects in the representatives’ and senators’ own
districts. Such earmarks that load down an appropriation bill
are often referred to as “pork,” or “pork-barrel” spending.
Our country’s massive budget deficit is due in no small
part to the pork that bloats government spending.
One example
of such an earmark was the $1.32 million that was attached
by Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA, 10th) to the 2005 Transportation
Appropriation bill for I-3. That money is set to pay for the
feasibility study of I-3. According to John Stone, Rep. Norwood’s
spokesman, the $1.32 million of pork was “great news
for the south.” Mr. Stone has explained that the study
will investigate routing, costs, benefits, environmental and
archaeological impacts and economic development.
According to
the Federal Highway Administration’s website
the I-3 corridor has essentially been determined. I-3 will
run through north Georgia and western North Carolina, cutting
through our mountains and skirting the western boundary of
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. See for yourself at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/sec1927maps.htm
We all need
to keep an eye on the 110th Congress as it moves forward with
the agenda to curtail earmarks and pork barrel spending. As
voters we can hold their feet to the fire to ensure that earmarks
for pet highway projects that would destroy our quality of
life and waste our tax dollars are a thing of the past.
— Greg Kidd, chairman, Stop I-3 Coalition
A small ante, please
As
the Stop I-3 Coalition progresses in its efforts to promote
proper transportation planning in the Southern Appalachian
region, we are finding ourselves urged to broaden our financial
base, which, to date, has relied primarily on a handful
of generous individual and organizational contributors.
The
Coalition has more than 1,400 members on its rolls, and many
thousand more supporters when one counts the 35 supporting
organizations that have rallied to the Stop I-3 cause.
Even
small contributions from even a percentage of this membership
base would go a long way to providing the short-term financial
stability we need and desire.
So, please get out your checkbook
today or go online to make the contribution that will make
all the difference. Such contributions are still tax-deductible,
under our current agreement with the Southern Appalachian Forest
Coalition.
Please make the check out to SAFC/Stop I-3 Coalition,
and mail to 46 Haywood Street, Suite 323, Asheville, North
Carolina, 28801-2838, or click on this site to make a donation
online, click on: http://www.stopi-3.org/donate.html
Stop I-3 comments on nuclear complex proposal
Stop I-3 Coalition has filed a series of detailed questions
and comments to the federal Department of Energy regarding
agency plans to increase nuclear weapon activity near Augusta,
Georgia, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
As the proposed Route 3
would link Augusta and Oak Ridge to the port of Savannah,
the coalition registered concerns that I-3, if ever built,
would become a convenient route for traffic in radioactive
materials, raising a host of safety and environmental concerns.
For a copy of the entire coalition letter on this topic, click
on:
http://www.stopi-3.org/letters_to_officials/011207_Wyka_stopi3.html
Bumper stickers available
Stop I-3 Coalition bumper stickers are still available from
a dedicated volunteer, Kathy Williams, for $1.00 per sticker.
Contact her at sauteewill@alltel.net,
or at 706.878.3349. This also is an excellent method of keeping
the issue in the public eye.
And some of our members have found that the eye-catching
stickers are an excellent gift to friends and family living
outside the I-3 corridors.
