Challenges for Environmental Policy Implementation (2021)  

We as Americans continue to face serious social, economic, and environmental challenges.  When we discuss potentials to address these critical challenges, options are often evaluated in terms of their supposed cost/benefit, effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness.  A combination of rational and moral arguments, as well as emotional and partisan appeals, are presented.  Depending upon the persuasiveness of arguments and appeals, elected or appointed officials endorse or oppose public policy alternatives. Despite a political process that has long been described as akin to sausage making, certain policies and laws are eventually approved and implemented.  Historians and social commentators then speculate on examples of long-term successes and failures in these important policies or laws.    

Our nation confronts diverse environmental and climate challenges.  There will always be advocates and critics for specific environmental policy proposals.  Most of the heated debate, whether coming from the political left or right, has been focused on the selection of more appropriate environmental policies and programs.   

My own concerns extend beyond environmental issue analysis and policy selection though.  As a retired management professor, I’m also very interested in the quality of implementation and the controls or enforcement for whichever policies and programs are selected.  Without adequate controls to monitor and identify actual policy implementation problems, we can’t begin to correct these existing problems or evaluate better policy directions for the future.  Control and enforcement challenges occur beyond just our environmental and climate policies.  We can see similar weaknesses in the monitoring and enforcement of many forms of enacted law or regulation – from taxing to transportation policies.      

The public policy process for enacting our federal, state, and local laws is where deals are struck.  Parties to these deals try to squeeze in preferred amendments or language suitable to their interests.  Legislative representatives of the public who negotiate these laws are lobbied and influenced by diverse and often powerful agents.  Those with “deeper pockets” who are potentially impacted by enacted legal provisions and regulations often have the talent and financial resources to determine how to “get around” the key provisions upon which the law was intended.  There will always be some also who flout laws and regulations with impunity, especially if there is less than effective enforcement and low punishment risks.   

What emerges as actual environmental law or regulation can include provisions that are difficult to implement, monitor and enforce.  Critics can sometimes blame an overall law or policy when its actual weaknesses lie mostly in its implementation, monitoring, or enforcement.  The devil is often in the details of effective policy implementation and controls.  Usually those directly administering or directly impacted by these policies can provide the most realistic feedback information.  Even those direct experiences, though, can lead to judgment biases and only partial insights.  The overall evaluation of our environmental policies and laws is awash, too, with less useful influences.  These certainly include raw inputs derived from very opinionated media sources that provide viewers, listeners, or readers with little other than simple pro or con policy positions.   

Modern societies everywhere depend heavily upon social controls and public acceptance of laws.  These social controls lead much of the public to accept the basic intentions of our laws so that we don’t have enforcement officials spending vast resources and looking over the shoulders of every citizen.  Some people will obviously bend or break laws from time to time and to a limited extent.  Our constitutional and social foundations break down though when a critical mass of the public disobey laws.  Anarchy and later authoritarian responses often result.          

We do have public policy administrators who are attuned to control and enforcement matters.  However, we often don’t have enough dedicated officials and staff to make policy implementation and controls truly effective.  We also can fail to have the appropriate monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to register alarm and communicate just which problems exist.  Controls such as whistleblower protections can be encouraged in theory, but these whistleblowing messages can often be pushed aside, belittled, or ignored. 

President Biden announced his intention soon to appoint an infrastructure chief to implement the recently signed $1.2 trillion package and to prevent fraud.  He appointed Jeff Zients back in March to oversee the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.   The Biden administration has also placed recent emphasis on anticorruption efforts within federal programs, stating that corruption erodes public trust, deepens economic and political inequality, and degrades the business environment. These anti-corruption approaches are vital to ensure that existing and new programs live up to their potential benefits.   

Part of successful climate policy introduction must be serious attention to implementation, monitoring, and enforcement priorities.   Many individuals, and particularly those with relatively low public profiles, make our world go round.  We learned this during the COVID-19 pandemic in the case of essential workers.  We’re learning this currently with global staffing and supply chain shortages.   

For every czar or top program administrator, we need dozens of conscientious staff members and support personnel to assure high levels of legal and regulatory implementation.  Even if we are smart enough to have these talented individuals where needed, they will never get the attention and respect that they deserve for their critical contributions. 

                Caddo Lake, Lake O’ the Pines, and Jefferson, TX (2021) 

Every few months, I’ve been describing weekend or holiday destinations for PWJ readers.  My goal has been to select unique cities or towns within an easy day’s drive that could serve as a base for nearby outdoor and nature expeditions.  

With the beautiful weather in early November, a trip to Jefferson, TX offered opportunities for viewing the changing colors of late autumn leaves. Jefferson is well known as a regional tourist attraction. Its cobblestone streets, historic homes, beds and breakfasts, shopping, and entertainment appeals make Jefferson a festive place for family getaways.  Walking its downtown streets can bring memories for some of us of small-town America in the late forties and fifties.  If you spend too much time during a visit in the town itself, though, outdoor lovers will miss some wonderful venues within a short twenty or thirty-minute drive.    

Many small or county parks, several larger state parks, and a national wildlife refuge can be found in the pine and hardwood forests around Jefferson.  For this article, I’m going to focus on sites that are near Caddo Lake and Lake O’ the Pines, just east and west of Jefferson.  The two large lakes are generally regarded as among the best fishing and boating attractions in Texas.           

Let’s start with the Caddo Lake State Park. This park is west of the lake and along Cypress Bayou.  A natural logjam created Caddo Lake long ago.  The diversity of habitat (lake, cypress swamp, marsh, lowland hardwoods, and upland pine and hardwoods) is home for a wider variety of species of plants and animals than elsewhere in the state.  At Caddo Lake State Park, you can fish, kayak or paddle, hike, geocache, picnic, and camp or book a cabin.  The Caddo Forest Trail and Pine Ridge Trail there take hikers through different habitat levels.  The changes in elevation along these over mile long trails require a level of stamina or fitness for hikers wanting to do a complete circuit.  One of the rewards for this physical exertion is seeing a still-standing, natural-rock pavilion constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. 

I brought my hybrid bike on this trip hoping to find a suitable spot for biking one day while I was there.  Caddo Lake SP didn’t offer that much for bikers, but the adjacent Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge certainly did.  I admit that I was quite surprised at what I found at this refuge, since I hadn’t done much research on it before arriving.  The layout of the refuge was puzzling to me with its many parallel and well-paved roads through what seemed a dense pine forest.  In a couple of hours of relatively fast biking along these roads, I encountered many more deer than the two individuals that I saw. Since the refuge HQ was closed that day, I didn’t learn until consulting my cell phone later that afternoon about the refuge’s unusual history.  

A young member of Congress named Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) persuaded the Army to build a new ammunition plant near Jefferson and closer to the small town of Karnack.  The Longhorn Army Ammunitions Plant operated there from 1942 until 1997 and manufactured munitions such as TNT, incendiary devices, and eventually rocket missile motors.  The facility at its peak had over 400 buildings, its own power and water treatment capabilities, and was designed for rail movement of supplies, inventories, and finished military items.  In 1998 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service requested that the no longer active army site be provided to them for the purpose of establishing a national wildlife refuge. Portions of these thousands of acres of land were declared an EPA Superfund site for remediation before the Caddo Lake National Wildlife was formally opened to the public in September 2009.  

On the opposite side of Jefferson lies Lake O’ the Pines.  This large, picturesque lake has many county parks and marinas all along its long shoreline.  The county parks there have boat ramps and picnic tables.  A few, like Brushy Creek State Park, have more extensive facilities such as boat rentals, pavilions, and cabin and camping options.  Buckhorn Creek Park, adjacent to the big dam for the lake has a particularly majestic vista looking down to the lake from above.   

As impressive as the many parks and marinas along the big lake, my recommendation for a visit is Daingerfield State Park located just north of Lake O’ the Pines. This state park is on a beautiful 80-acre lake called Little Pine Lake.  The park store rents paddle boats, paddle boards, canoes, kayaks, and a flat-bottom boat, with life jackets and paddles included.  You don’t even need a license to fish from shore, the fishing pier, or a boat there.  

Like Caddo Lake SP, Daingerfield SP has hiking trails over widely contrasting habitat.  The elevation along its Mountain View Trail reaches 535 feet and is even more demanding than the climb at Caddo Lake SP.  Another hiking option at Daingerfield SP called the Rustling Leaves Trail is an easy 2.4-mile route around the lake. 

  

My few days in the Jefferson area were active ones.  I only wish more time was available on that trip.  I was sorely tempted to travel a short distance to the west of Daingerfield and to Lake Bob Sandlin State Park, near Pittsburg, TX.  A ranger at Caddo State SP told me that Lake Bob Sandlin SP was her favorite state park in Texas.  If it’s a better outdoor venue than Caddo Lake or Daingerfield SPs, that’s saying a lot.    

                        Environmental Consequences and Justice (2021)

Americans have been mobile throughout our history, starting from our country’s initial westward expansion. Due to opportunities elsewhere or catastrophes of all sorts, we often have picked up and moved to greener pastures.       

My wife and I have moved and changed our residence four times in three decades.  Most of these moves were for career-oriented or family reasons.  The last one had almost everything to do with our concern for future environmental threats.  We had suffered wind damage and flooding at our residence over the last decade.  We were fortunate to have the resources to be able to relocate in June.  Our losses due to roof repair and flooding in recent years were minimal, though, compared to many others who have experienced much more costly storm and flooding damages in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.   

Recent surveys have revealed how many Americans do not emergency funds for weather-related or other negative environmental consequences.  For example, a Bankrate July 2021 Emergency Savings survey indicated that one out of four Americans have no savings for major emergencies.  Over 50% of those surveyed claimed to have less than three months of living expenses in their savings.  These statistics are more troubling for Americans in certain subgroups, such as lower-income families or those living in less prosperous states  

According to the 2021 National Geographic’s Resource Library, a fourth of Louisiana’s wetlands, about the size of the state of Delaware, has been washed away since the 1930s. Our state has reportedly lost more of its wetlands than losses by the entire continental United States combined.  Wetland losses have been attributed to several factors, including natural gas and oil extraction techniques causing land erosion.      

The Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw community in Isle de Jean Charles (Terrebonne Parish) has been particularly impacted by rising sea waters.  The island’s roughly 22,000 acres were reduced to less than 400 acres by 2016. Damages from Hurricane Ida this summer make life there even more problematic.  Federal and state funds have been expended to help displaced residents here and in storm-damaged communities in Louisiana.   

Along with negative environmental consequences in our state, there have been more public demands for “environmental justice.”  If you ask 20 randomly chosen residents though what environmental justice is, you’re likely to get some confused looks and different responses.  This concept and concern emerged more than forty years ago as an offshoot of the increased environmental consciousness of the 1970s. 

The concept of NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) explained traditional social and political influences that led to the selection of locations for prisons, energy plants, chemical/refinery operations, and dump sites.  Wealthier communities didn’t want to be adjacent or near these potential threats.  Sites near poorer or disadvantaged communities tended to be selected.  When accidents or negative impacts from these operations occurred, health and economic consequences confronted those who were less prepared to bear these costs.      

Environmental justice (EJ) was established in American public policy when President Bill Clinton signed the initial EJ Executive Order in 1994.  This order described environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.  Fair treatment meant that no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operations or policies.  This Executive Order 12898 directed federal agencies, under the leadership of the EPA, to develop strategies to help address disproportionately high human health or environmental consequences of federal programs on minority and low-income populations. 

Related executive orders since then have included Executive Orders 13990 and 14008 signed by President Biden in January 2021.  President Biden then specifically cited Cancer Alley, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  He said that “environmental justice will be at the center of all we do when it comes to addressing the disproportionate health and environmental and economic impacts on communities of color.”  His commitment is to direct 40 percent of his administration’s climate and clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities.  An EJ Scorecard is to be published on an annual basis to determine actual progress toward such goals.  The Department of Justice, through criminal and civil litigation by US Attorney’s Offices, is starting to emphasize stronger enforcement of laws related to EJ.  

There have been significant ventures also by individuals and third-sector organizations dedicated to greater EJ.  For example, there have been grants recently from the Bezos Earth Fund that supports those fighting for these causes.  Funds in the amount of $20 million have been disbursed to four environmental justice groups with a pledge of an additional $130 million by the end of this year.  These grantees include the Deep South Center for EJ ($4 million), the Partnership for Southern Equity ($6 million), the Robert D. Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University ($4 million), and WE ACT for EJ ($6 million).  More funding initiatives for EJ can be expected in the future.     

Activist organizations will also continue to focus on specific local or area concerns, in collaboration with private foundations and public agencies.  One recent and high-profile controversy surrounds the question of approval for the multi-billion-dollar Formosa Plastics complex proposed for location in St. James Parish.  RISE St. James, a faith-based grassroots organization, and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, which partners with communities adjacent to industrial sites that have negative environmental impacts, are among the activist groups fighting this proposed corporate site.     

Climate change and environmental threats are more than ever in the forefront of news and public policy making.  The issue of environmental justice in Louisiana, particularly its application or enforcement in specific cases, will likely become much more discussed and debated as well.  

                                                      SWEATING IT OUT  (2021)

Being outdoors during the dog days of summer in the Deep South is often a profusely sweaty experience.  Some residents limit these occasions and stay indoors much of the time, and away from summer heat and humidity extremes.   

The increasingly presence of air conditioning in workplaces and homes after World War II was a huge boost in the quality of life for those in the Deep South.  Population studies show many Americans migrated in the decades after 1950 into states from the far Southwest to the Atlantic Southeast.   Air conditioning has been credited with making these states more attractive for permanent residency. 

I’m old enough to remember sweating through early classroom experiences with only ceiling or portable fans available.  I also remember sweaty summer trips to visit my aunt and uncle in El Paso.  For the 1000-mile trip, my father once rigged up a portable air cooler to hang off a back car window.  This contraption required many stops on the way for packaged ice.  Sitting in the back seat of our vehicle for the two-day drive, my brother, sister and I would argue over which of us had to sit closer to the air cooler and try to avoid the melting water from the cooler dripping on our pants.   

Americans seem to have a love/hate relationship with the notion of breaking sweat.  We believe that sweating is good for us, and we go to health clubs, gyms, and on outdoor excursions to recreate and “sweat it out.”  My gym teachers in high school emphasized the virtues of sweating to remove the poisons and toxins from our bodies.   The acrid smell of many sweaty gym shorts, T-shirts and underwear in the gym’s locker room was adequate proof to me then that something foul was being released. 

Scientists told us then that our skin is the largest human organ.  Skin glands release fluids that push salt and certain toxins out of our bodies, thereby helping our immune systems.  I worked several summers during college at a West Monroe paper mill and around paper machines and heavy equipment producing intense heat.  Health and safety programs and posters reminded us that salt tablet dispensers were located short distances apart throughout the mill.  The advice and expectation then was that we should swallow or suck on these salt tablets to replenish the loss of salt in our bodies due to excessive sweating.  Frequent hydration obviously was also encouraged.      

Some of this earlier information concerning sweating out toxins has been rejected or revised.  According to some recent health experts, the kidneys and liver do the overwhelming majority of cleansing toxins from our bodies.  Sweat is largely composed of sodium, chlorine, potassium and water rather than flushed-out toxins.  We can’t expect sweating to rid our bodies of the harmful pollution that we breathe or the pesticides that may remain on agricultural products that we consume.  We can’t expect to sweat out much of the alcohol that we might drink either.    

The health-related benefits of sweating include its helping to regulate the temperature within our bodies and to cleanse the pores in our skin of accumulated dirt and residue.  Less is known scientifically about sweating’s effect on our brains and our mental and emotional well-being.  Sweating is one by-product of the physical exertion or exercise that has been consistently shown to have mental and emotional benefits.   

Many cultures view sweating, regardless of associated physical exertion or exercise, as having a vital mental, spiritual and emotional benefit.  Sweat lodge ceremonies are common and central still for many Native American cultures.  Sweating has long been promoted and ritualized for re-purification and connection to traditional and more natural lifestyles.  These cultures believed that excesses and poisons of outside influences need to be sweated out.   Somewhat similar beliefs and sweating practices can be found throughout history and around the world, particularly among the Greeks, Romans, Turks, and Scandinavians.  Sweat baths and saunas were often considered essential and naturally included in architectural plans for homes and buildings. 

The closets of most Americans contain sweatshirts, sweatpants and sweaters.  These clothing apparel basics were obviously named for their traditional connection to the process of sweating.  Sweaters keep us warm and can induce sweating even in cold weather.  Sweatshirts and sweatpants can stimulate sweating outdoors and for exercise purposes, as well as conceal sweat better than simple T-shirts, gym shorts or some other clothing options.  Of course, technology has advanced well beyond the options of choosing simple cotton or traditional fabrics.  You see many outdoor enthusiasts these days sporting more expensive moisture-wicking fabrics that draw out sweat and keep it away from the skin.  Polyester and polypropylene will serve that purpose, but alternatives like micromodal and bamboo fabrics have softness, odor reduction or other advantages over polyester and polypropylene.  Being old school, frugal and rarely pushed to extreme and extended outdoor conditions, I prefer the feel of cotton T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants. 

Many people go to great lengths in most social contexts to avoid having others see them sweat or to conceal sweating outcomes.  Manufacturers and marketers make billions globally offering antiperspirants and chemical blends to mask or reduce body odors associated with sweating.  I’m sure that most of us have been in an elevator or confined space where we truly regretted that someone near had not bathed more recently or used an antiperspirant product.    

I’ll conclude by strongly agreeing with Edgar Allen Poe’s quote that “The best things in life make you sweaty.”  I’ll just add that a good bath or shower after hot outdoor excursions or intense exercise can also be among the best things in life.

                Lake Chicot and the Delta Heritage Trail State Parks (2021) 

When Louisiana residents consider an Arkansas weekend or vacation outing, it’s more likely to Hot Springs, Little Rock, or places in the Ozarks.  These scenic areas offer so many great attractions that I’ve long neglected revisiting the river delta country of southeastern Arkansas.    

Towns such as Eudora, Montrose, and McGehee are far from what most people would consider prime tourist destinations.  One exception is Lake Village on Lake Chicot and on the other side of the great river from Greenville, Mississippi.  Greenville and its sister river cities of Vicksburg and Natchez have many parks and outdoor venues that are well worth visiting.  Perhaps the best recreational draw in the Greenville area though is Lake Chicot and the Lake Chicot State Park located on its north shore.    

As a child and teenager, I remember many weekend trips from north Louisiana to Greenville and then north to Cleveland, Mississippi and the home of my aunt and uncle there.  The three-hour car ride was a bit boring except for the stretch along Lake Chicot and the bridge across the Mississippi River.  Lake Village was a half-way, pit stop for us to get out of the car and possibly purchase gasoline or snacks.  I would observe many pleasure and fishing boats cruising on part of Lake Chicot.  The small town of Lake Village and Lake Chicot seemed to me to be more interesting places to explore than our eventual destination, but I was too young to break free from family interests and obligations.  It took a very long while, but I finally headed on a hot, summer weekend recently toward Lake Village and Lake Chicot.       

The history of the small towns and settlements in the Lake Village area has been greatly impacted by major river floods in the last two centuries.  The high levee continues to protect Lake Chicot from being reclaimed by the Mississippi River that once created the lake.  Lake Chicot is Arkansas’ largest natural lake and our country’s largest oxbow lake.  Driving the perimeter of the lake allows tourists many chances to see older and still beautiful homes of residents having property on the lake.    

For nature buffs, the interpretive center within the state park has appealing displays and information, including a brochure for a self-guided 30-mile auto tour of the big levee and lake.  Guided lake and levee tours are also available.  The park ranger or the interpreter there can provide details on timing.  Bird watchers can schedule barge and field trips to try to spot diverse species along this key North American migratory flyway. 

 

The state park has many cabins and campsites available year-round, as well as a marina and small general store.  Bikes, fishing boats, and gas-powered carts can be rented for reasonable rates.   The park has a nice pool facility that is normally open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. When I visited, though, it was temporarily closed for repair.  Cabin guests receive free pool admission, while others pay a small fee for using the pool.  More park information and a map are available on the park’s website. 

Scouting for additional outdoor attractions on my trip to Lake Chicot and southeast Arkansas, I discovered that the Delta Heritage Trail State Park and its southern trailhead started at Arkansas City.  The Delta Heritage Trail State Park is an example of a national trend that is having larger impact in other parts of our country.  The Delta Heritage Trail is a conversion of a north-to-south rail route of the Union Pacific Railroad.  “Rail-trails” are hiking, biking, and multipurpose public paths created from former railroad routes.  The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy reports that there are over 2000 rail-trails in the USA and over 24,000 miles of these rail-trails. 

When the Delta Heritage Trail is completed, it will be over 84 miles.  Currently about 44 miles of the Delta Heritage Trail are finished.  Its southern corridor is almost 24 miles from Watson south to Arkansas City, but that includes 14 miles of shared-use roadway on the Mississippi River Mainline Levee.  The trail surface otherwise is compacted crushed rock with some short stretches that are paved.   

I brought my old hybrid bike along on my trip to sample one of the more attractive parts of the Delta Heritage Trail.  This trail section is slightly less than ten miles from the village of Rohwer north to the village of Watson.  Both ends of this part of the trail have nice shelters with tables, water fountains, and restrooms.  Shade trees lined almost all of this section of the trail, usually on both sides of the trail. The shade was welcome as the temperature was 90 degrees when I started north at 5:30pm.  A couple of hours later, I was more than a little tired from the almost twenty-mile roundtrip ride.  Perhaps only mad dogs and those of English descent were foolish enough to be on that section of the trail on that Sunday.  I saw not one human or dog along the trail, but observed an abundance of butterflies, doves, blue jays and other song birds. 

I wish that there were more of these longer rail-trails in and closer to north and central Louisiana.  Although certain cities in the state have revitalized downtown and riverside areas with walking and biking paths, rail-trails provide elevated views of the bordering countryside.  These rail-trails seem to me to make leisure hiking or biking excursions even richer and more memorable experiences.  

Photo 1:  Lake Chicot State Park Main Building   

Photo 2: Delta Heritage Trail between Rohwer and Watson