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Earth Week panel urges students to 'vote green'

Urging voters to cast the green vote, speakers at an EarthWeek panel discussion last night encouraged listeners to support pro-environmental candidates and to oppose the trend toward weaker environmental protection laws.

"It comes down to how much human life is worth ... how much damage to our immune system, to our reproductive system that we as a society are willing to accept," said Cyndi Roeper, the Michigan political director for Clean Water Action.

Roeper said a stealth campaign is being conducted as the government cuts funding for the enforcement and monitoring of environmental laws and hides these cuts behind the federal budget proposal.

"(The budget plan) is a very direct, disproportionate attack on environmental laws," Roeper said.

State Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) agreed, saying, "there's a concerted effort across the country" to weaken environmental laws, such as the polluter-pay law which made owners of contaminated property pay for the clean-up costs.

"(The state legislature) did away with polluter-pay," Brater said.

Roeper said there is a widespread effort to "placate business."

"There needs to be incentives for companies to clean up their act," she said.

Brater said environmental laws are eroding faster in Michigan than in the nation as a whole.

In 1992, Michigan had one of the highest non-compliance rates, Roeper said.

"In Michigan, we have the state House, the state Senate, and the governor's office all controlled by anti-environment Republicans," Brater said.

She added that anti-environmental policy is not a Republican monopoly.

"To get re-elected, (Democrats) have to mimic what Republicans are saying," Brater said.

Roeper pointed out that electing pro-environment candidates to office is crucial.

"We strongly believe that nothing is more important than making sure that people get in who are committed to environmental issues on both the state and federal level," Roeper said.

The wave of legislation attacking environmental laws, Brater said, is created by the fact that businesses fund political campaigns.

Through citizen initiatives in campaign finance reform, "we can get people who are not owned by big corporations," Brater said.

Bill Joyner, political director for Rivers, called for students' activism and labeled Gov. John Engler's environmental record as "Neanderthal policy."

"It's time for the students in the state to take charge in the streets ... and make the environment an issue," he said. "But if we wait until 1998, we'll lose. Engler wins."

Many audience members were surprised and disappointed at the low attendance.

"It's somewhat interesting that the attendance was poor on a big campus," said Robb Beal, an SNRE research assistant.

But Mona Hanna, one of the organizers of the event, said, "As long as one person become inspired to work on a campaign, to work for Clean Water Action ... or to work for an environmentally responsible candidate, that will be enough."

Rackham student Christian Sinderman said the discussion was informative.

"It underlines the underlying disparities in campaign financing, in who the policies benefit and who pays the price," he said. "Corporations pollute for free, and the taxpayers pay."