VA Sierra Club announces I Love NY Garbage Awards
Out of state garbage is big business in Virginia. With seven mega landfills
importing 4 million tons of trash annually, Virginia is second only to
Pennsylvania in trash imports. In a drive to stem the flow of this out of
state trash from New York City and adjoining states, Sierra Club and Campaign
Virginia invited Patrick Henry to a December trash rally where he told
Virginians -"Give Me Liberty, of Give Me Death, but don't give me New York
Garbage."
Patrick Henry called upon his fellow Virginians to declare their independence
from out of state garbage, and Sierra Club is now asking VA General Assembly
members to do the same.
Each Monday of the ongoing General Assembly Session, the Club holds a "Trash
Watch" press conference to report the new totals for trash flowing into the
state. This past Monday, Glen Besa, Chapter Director, joined by Jim Wright,
Chapter Chair and Jay Kardan Chapter Conservation Chair, along with Jim Sharp
of Campaign Virginia also announced the first I Love New York Garbage Awards
which were given to the two lead lobbyists for the waste industry. John
Daniel representing Waste Management, Inc. and Tim Hayes representing the
Virginia Waste Industry Association were the awardees.
The awards set off an immediate reaction with one Delegate defending the
virtue of the trash industry lobbyists on the floor of the House. One junior
lobbyist for the industry was actually carrying the awards around to
legislators complaining about the Sierra Club. A few legislators called the
Club to complain about the inappropriateness of the awards.
At next Monday's press conference Sierra Club and Campaign Virginia will
announce the names of those legislators who have signed the Declaration of
Independence from out of state garbage. *** To be continued***