For a multitude of reasons I have been very critical of FONSI and SCDC and taken some pains to point out the folly of following their worm’s eye view of business and job creation. Jon Barton, President of FONSI has penned another ‘woe is us’ attack on those perceived to “…work hard to kill projects that could bring a good measure of economic success to our area.” Therein lies the problem, the belief by someone like Barton that because people object to dirty industry they oppose economic success.
Based upon the discussions I have had around the county I am willing to bet that if I offered 200 family wage jobs in a clean green industry like renewable energy production and the supporting industries and Jon Barton, et al, offered 200 family wage jobs strip mining and importing foreign LNG, most people given a choice would choose my green jobs over the finite jobs offered by the dirtier industries. One of the issues that came out at the SDAT meetings this week are jobs but the issue to me is what kind of jobs. There is no interest amongst my children to work in a service based economy and my kids aspire to better jobs than fork lift operators and truck drivers (no offense intended). The industries promoted by FONSI and SCDC do not inspire education or inspired thinking… they are simply hard labor to promote profits for foreign shareholders, and even to pay the income taxes of those shareholders.
I have attended at least a dozen public meetings over the last three months and the one thing that keeps being driven home is that activists score big points.
FONSI and SCDC promote a modern day version of serfdom and expect county residents to be grateful. Yet those of us who “wear slogan T-shirts, wave placards and chant” are just as supportive of success and prosperity we just categorize it much differently. FONSI is not scoring points because it refuses to acknowledge that jobs are available through clean industry and chooses to alienate those who do by making short sighted comments accusing opposing views of being ‘anti’ prosperity. It reveals their ignorance OR their self serving agenda.
