Sanders to Sierra Blanca: "Drop Dead!"
Sierra Blanca, Bernie Sanders, Paul Wellstone, a Poor Minority Community and a Nuclear Waste DumpIn 1998, then Representative Bernie Sanders cosponsored and actively ushered a bill through Congress that would allow Vermont and Maine to dump their nuclear waste in the poor disadvantaged Hispanic community of Sierra Blanca, Texas.
Three West Texan protestors went to Vermont to plead with then Representative Sanders that the dump site shouldn't be located in this poor minority community, Mr. Sanders told the three activists, "My position is unchanged and you’re not going to like it.” When asked if he would at least visit the proposed site in Sierra Blanca, he said: “Absolutely not. I'm gonna to be running for re-election in the state of Vermont."
“He didn't listen,” Curry said. “He had his mind made up."
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Reading this article, I had a real sense that Mr. Sanders just didn't care about their concerns or the plight of this poor Hispanic community. It wasn't his community to care about. If history tells us anything about minority communities they seemingly always get the short end of the stick. Flint, MI is one such community that comes to mind. In this case, the community of Sierra Blanca didn't have any real political clout and they were reaching out to Mr. Sanders for help.
Mr. Sanders could have stood behind this very poor Hispanic community, but as his response to the protestors revealed, he chose the political expedient route. In this case, he didn't stand up for the less fortunate in Sierra Blanca.
Paul Wellstone would later call this injustice against the people of Sierra Blanca a case of "environmental racism”.
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In 1998, then Representative Bernie Sanders cosponsored and actively ushered a bill through Congress that would allow Vermont and Maine to dump their nuclear waste in the poor disadvantaged Hispanic community of Sierra Blanca, Texas.
Three West Texan protestors went to Vermont to plead with then Representative Sanders that the dump site shouldn't be located in this poor minority community, Mr. Sanders told the three activists, "My position is unchanged and you’re not going to like it.” When asked if he would at least visit the proposed site in Sierra Blanca, he said: “Absolutely not. I'm gonna to be running for re-election in the state of Vermont."
“He didn't listen,” Curry said. “He had his mind made up."
::
Reading this article, I had a real sense that Mr. Sanders just didn't care about their concerns or the plight of this poor Hispanic community. It wasn't his community to care about. If history tells us anything about minority communities they seemingly always get the short end of the stick. Flint, MI is one such community that comes to mind. In this case, the community of Sierra Blanca didn't have any real political clout and they were reaching out to Mr. Sanders for help.
Mr. Sanders could have stood behind this very poor Hispanic community, but as his response to the protestors revealed, he chose the political expedient route. In this case, he didn't stand up for the less fortunate in Sierra Blanca.
Paul Wellstone would later call this injustice against the people of Sierra Blanca a case of "environmental racism”.
''I think maybe they choose us because we are a small town, because we are so distant from everyone and because we have no political power,'' Ms. Bustamante said. ''I think maybe they are taking advantage of us. I believe that most of the people are opposed to it.''
Now compare this with the late, great Paul Wellstone, who fought with passion on the Senate floor for this poor disadvantaged community. His impassioned speech for the people of Sierra Blanca was a shining moment on the Senate floor.
For Mr. Wellstone, reaching out, helping and fighting for minorities came naturally. He immediately recognized the injustice and fought for this community, like it was his very own.
www.austinchronicle.com/...
More...http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/2/8/1481494/-Sierra-Blanca-Bernie-Sanders-Paul-Wellstone-a-Poor-Minority-Community-and-a-Nuclear-Waste-Dump
= new reply since forum marked as read
connection to HRC, please?
?14548967http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/2/8/1481494/-Sierra-Blanca-Bernie-Sanders-Paul-Wellstone-a-Poor-Minority-Community-and-a-Nuclear-Waste-Dump
Whatever happened to "I have spent my career fighting for human rights", and/or "check my record" ???
He is nothing more than a politician with a niche and the usual self-interest.
. . . to Sierra Blanca stopped sometime in 2001. There's a PDF file online from 2007, however, indicating that there was (is?) a controversy concerning accepting poop from New york again.
I didn't have time to do any further research; but here's a link to the PDF I mentioned: http://intrabecc.cocef.org/programs/intranetnotasperiodico/uploadedFiles/sierra.pdf
Hope that helps to answer your first question.
As for your second question: I don't see how it's in any way relevant to Sierra Blanca.
. . . the following sentence was posted in a "bold" typeface, viz:
Paul Wellstone would later call this injustice against the people of Sierra Blanca a case of "environmental racism”.
Therefore, it seemed only proper that attention be given to the actual waste dumped at Sierra Blanca---namely, sewage from New York---rather than what might have been dumped---low-level nuclear waste (80% from Texas, 10% from Maine, & 10% from Vermont)---nuclear waste that was not dumped . . . not dumped because people protested.
Thank you, nevertheless, for all of the links you posted. I've read through some of them and bookmarked other links to look at later. If nothing else, those links helped me to understand that Sanders was only one of 23 sponsors of HR629---17 of those sponsors from Texas, 2 from Maine, 1 from Louisiana, 1 from North Carolina, & 1 from Vermont---not to mention that HR629 was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Does that make all of those sponsors plus the members of Congress who voted for the bill and the then-President advocates of "environmental racism"? If not, why not?
You said that what I wrote was "off topic" as if to suggest that you're willing to dismiss or ignore the fact that New York's sewage dumped in Sierra Blanca created a very real environmental problem for that community . . . a very real environmental problem caused, back then, knowingly or unknowingly, with every flush of a New York toilet. Does that mean New Yorkers who pooped and flushed deserve to be accused of "environmental racism"? How about the Clintons? I mean: Didn't they move to New York in 1999, at a time when the "poop trains" were still headed for Sierra Blanca?
Oh, but that's different . . . because it's off-topic . . . right? (** sigh **)
. . . from the article linked in the OP: Of course, I'm not OK with it. I come from a poor rural State (West--by God!--Virginia) and know well enough where out-of-state waste is dumped!
But . . . I am especially not OK with that article's questionable headline: Sanders to Sierra Blanca: "Drop Dead!"
Are we to honestly think Sanders actually told the people of Sierra Blanca to drop dead? Or did the writer believe, simply, that every reader had been conditioned to swallow such political propaganda whole? In any case . . . hearsay is just that: hearsay.
If you've read the text of the Public Law 105-206---passed by the House & Senate** (and, then, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, who could have vetoed it)---you must have noticed that Sierra Blanca is not mentioned therein.
From what I've read, it's my understanding that Sanders co-sponsored a bill that, eventually, created the law governing low-level nuclear waste disposal in Texas. It was the responsibility of the great State of Texas to determine where the disposal site would be located. It was Vermont's and Maine's responsibility to provide their share of the funds necessary to construct the disposal facility . . . not to determine the feasibility of the disposal site nor its location. Sanders responsibility was to his constituents in Vermont---just as all those elected representatives from Texas were responsible to theirs. Or, were they?***
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**The House of Representatives voted 305 to 117 in favor of the bill . . . 70% for & 27% against, with 3% (12 members) not voting.
The Senate voted 78 (78%) to 15 (15%) in favor . . . with 7 (7%) not voting.
***For what it's worth: There were times when I was told by our own elected "representatives" in DC that, no matter how much they'd like to help, federal law didn't permit them to interfere with decisions made by our state!
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P.S.
Forgive me if you find this reply off-topic again. From now on, I'll try to be more aware of where my replies are being posted. I mean: When I posted my initial reply, I didn't notice this was a protected group. Since then, I feel like I'm walking on eggs. And, so, I won't continue to beat the same dead horse with further replies.
"but.. but... no one was exposed to radiation!!"
he always want the last word.
K & R for exposure
