“ said from the very get-go: ‘I know your issue. The meeting was brief, but for the Downwinders, it was “profound,” said Tina Cordova, founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. “Every American is entitled to have the government respond to their needs, especially if those needs were created by the government.” “Every American is entitled to appropriate health care,” he said. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Wednesday met with a group of Downwinders, then told reporters he planned to “follow up” on their concerns. Residents of those counties, known as Downwinders, have for generations logged higher-than-average rates of cancer and other illnesses, a plight that had gone largely ignored by government officials. Five counties bore the brunt of contamination from radioactive debris, which traveled more than 30 miles outside of the test area. The dust spread across the state on July 16, 1945, when the federal government detonated the world’s first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. Here’s the dust! (Photo by Berlyn Brixner/Los Alamos National Laboratory/Public Domain) The executive branch of the federal government appeared to learn as much this week, finally acknowledging - for the first time - the role it played in exposing thousands of New Mexicans to cancer-causing dust, Source New Mexico reported. So we do have to find that balance.”Īlso not sustainable: Denying the thing that’s right in front of you. “Outdoor recreation is booming, but it’s not sustainable. “I think that’s a core of the frustration,” one official said. But the debate will long outlive the project, they added. State officials, who signed off on the railroad’s permit application, agreed with that description. Opponents of the project said any development at the summit would exacerbate environmental problems, while supporters said the facility could help alleviate congestion at the summit by delivering fewer people at timed intervals. The debate over the station proposal is a microcosm of the larger struggle. But it’s not clear how the various stakeholders would utilize that plan, or even if they’re required to abide by it. A commission is in the process of finalizing a master plan to shape the future of the summit, with the broad goal of promoting Mount Washington as a must-see tourist destination while also ensuring conservation. The complex map of competing interests makes oversight difficult, particularly since there’s no regulatory framework for protecting - or commercializing - the mountain. (Photo by Andrew Brame/New Hampshire Bulletin) State and federal officials have long struggled to balance conservation and tourism there, in part because the mountain is owned by a mix of public and private entities, each with different priorities. Mount Washington - the highest peak in the Northeastern United States - attracts roughly 400,000 visitors each year, numbers that have led to increasing congestion at the summit and threatening wildlife and vegetation. Proponents of the project say it would add needed infrastructure and help control foot traffic in a popular tourist attraction, but environmentalists and residents think it’s more likely that the facility will attract even more visitors to an area that’s already overwhelmed, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Here’s a textbook example: A $14 million proposal for a railroad station where people could spend the night in sleeper cars just under the summit of Mount Washington, a 6,300-foot peak in northern New Hampshire. And it’s easy to understand both sides of those conflicts, regardless of which one you agree with. Those projects always center around some type of struggle, usually one that pits conservation against development. To be fair, yelling is common at all kinds of government meetings, but there’s something particularly compelling about the building permit process. I know that sounds dull, but because those meetings deal with proposed development projects (strip malls, parks), they almost always involve people yelling at each other. At the local level, for example, the most contentious and bitter arguments always seem to happen at zoning and permitting hearings. Believe it or not, most of the drama in government has nothing to do with politicians.
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