Spring Break
Bashed journalist speaks to student environmentalists
Kendall Muellner, Contributing Writer
Issue date: 9/30/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
A Little Rock journalist told Sierra Club members that the staff of a congressman harassed her after she covered a congressional hearing on the National Environmental Policy Act. She also voiced her concerns for the future of the environment at the meeting Wednesday night.
Suzi Parker, who writes for the news magazine The Economist, said the future of the NEPA is in jeopardy. The 1969 National Environmental Policy Act requires government agencies to conduct an environmental impact review for major projects authorized by the federal government and to allow for a period of public comment.
"It is the most important environmental law in America," Parker said.
Parker attended a congressional hearing in July, which was organized by Richard Pombo, House Resource Committee Chairman. Pombo created the congressional task force to find ways to improve the NEPA.
The public hearing was held in the remote city of Nacogdoches, Texas, and the public was given little notice of the hearing, Parker said. When Parker arrived she was questioned about why she was there, she said.
"It was nothing like I had ever covered before," she said. "I felt very unwelcome."
Big business, oil and timber were represented at the hearing, but there were few environmentalists or Democrats in attendance, Parker said.
Parker wrote a story about NEPA for The Economist, but before it was published, members of Pombo's staff began to "intimidate" her, she said.
"They started digging through my life," Parker said. Pambo and his staff learned all the details of her life: where she went to church, her work history and that she was a member of the Sierra Club.
"They called me, screaming allegations, and threatened to ruin my career," Parker said.
She said she thinks they intimidated her in hopes that the story would be dropped, and it was when her editor learned of her membership in the Sierra Club. It was a conflict of interest, Parker said, so the story could not be published.
Parker has since done further research on Pombo. She said she has learned of others who have been subject to Pombo's intimidation tactics.
"It's scary stuff," Parker said, and she thinks Pombo has one goal, to "gut the environment."
Parker said she is worried that recent Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will help push Pombo's agenda. She fears that in a hurry to rebuild, NEPA requirements will be ignored, she said. "They push through projects that are not environmentally sound," Parker said.
NEPA has been disregarded under the Bush Administration in many instances, Parker said. The Healthy Forests Restoration Act passed in 2003 restricts the number of alternatives subject to analysis for forest thinning.
Suzi Parker, who writes for the news magazine The Economist, said the future of the NEPA is in jeopardy. The 1969 National Environmental Policy Act requires government agencies to conduct an environmental impact review for major projects authorized by the federal government and to allow for a period of public comment.
"It is the most important environmental law in America," Parker said.
Parker attended a congressional hearing in July, which was organized by Richard Pombo, House Resource Committee Chairman. Pombo created the congressional task force to find ways to improve the NEPA.
The public hearing was held in the remote city of Nacogdoches, Texas, and the public was given little notice of the hearing, Parker said. When Parker arrived she was questioned about why she was there, she said.
"It was nothing like I had ever covered before," she said. "I felt very unwelcome."
Big business, oil and timber were represented at the hearing, but there were few environmentalists or Democrats in attendance, Parker said.
Parker wrote a story about NEPA for The Economist, but before it was published, members of Pombo's staff began to "intimidate" her, she said.
"They started digging through my life," Parker said. Pambo and his staff learned all the details of her life: where she went to church, her work history and that she was a member of the Sierra Club.
"They called me, screaming allegations, and threatened to ruin my career," Parker said.
She said she thinks they intimidated her in hopes that the story would be dropped, and it was when her editor learned of her membership in the Sierra Club. It was a conflict of interest, Parker said, so the story could not be published.
Parker has since done further research on Pombo. She said she has learned of others who have been subject to Pombo's intimidation tactics.
"It's scary stuff," Parker said, and she thinks Pombo has one goal, to "gut the environment."
Parker said she is worried that recent Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will help push Pombo's agenda. She fears that in a hurry to rebuild, NEPA requirements will be ignored, she said. "They push through projects that are not environmentally sound," Parker said.
NEPA has been disregarded under the Bush Administration in many instances, Parker said. The Healthy Forests Restoration Act passed in 2003 restricts the number of alternatives subject to analysis for forest thinning.
