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Author: Karen Grainey

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Photo by Jacob Mathers on Unsplash.

Representative Jesse Petrea has introduced state legislation (HB 748) that will shift the burden of proof to the State when landowners wish to assert ownership rights to coastal marshlands.

Common law public trust doctrine holds that the lands regularly submerged by the ebb and flow of the tide are owned by the State and held in trust for the benefit of the people. In 1981, the Georgia legislature codified this principle in the Protection of Tidewaters Act which establishes the State of Georgia as the owner of the beds of all tidewaters within the State, except where private title can be traced to a valid British Crown or State land grant.

It is appropriately difficult for property owners to successfully produce the documentation needed to trace an unbroken chain of title to a Crown or State grant.  Most of these grants date back to as far as 250 years ago when Georgia was a British colony. Among the requirements for proving ownership status, the grants must still exist, be legible, and must specifically convey tidewaters. Most Crown grants were subject to stipulations such as the cultivation of rice, mandating that the property reverts to the Crown if grantees should fail to adhere to the terms.

Currently, marsh-front property owners can petition the State to recognize their ownership of marshlands by submitting supporting documents to the Georgia Department of Law for official verification.  HB 748 would place an arbitrary 60-day time limit on the Attorney General to verify the claims. If the Attorney General cannot decide within this short period, the law would consider the claim valid by default putting the onus on the State to prove in court that the petitioner does not own public trust marshland. 

Passing this bill would hamper the State’s ability to employ necessary due diligence in evaluating claims affecting public trust lands, thus increasing the likelihood of dubious claims succeeding.

Some might wonder if unleashing a potential land grab of Georgia’s coastal marshlands matters since Crown grant marshlands are covered by the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act (CMPA).  It matters if a constituency of private landholders grows large enough to successfully lobby for policy changes that weaken environmental regulations perceived to impinge on their property rights.     

...continue reading "Why a Bill Expediting Private Ownership of Georgia’s Salt Marsh is a Bad Idea"

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Published on 2 Comments on Why are we Building New Gas Stations?
Photo by Simberto Brauserich.

On July 16, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners voted to change the zoning of a portion of the historic Bethesda Academy’s 635-acre tract of rural land to allow for the construction of a gas station. Despite appreciable opposition from neighboring residents, the vote was unanimous. There was no indication that anyone (other than Enmarket and the Bethesda Academy Board of Governors) wants or needs another gas station in this picturesque corner of Chatham County.

There are many reasons to object to the depressingly routine practice of changing zoning for the sole purpose of accommodating a landowner’s speculative attempt to maximize the financial rewards of land ownership – often by proposing unneeded projects. However, I would like to focus on the folly of defacing a treasured landscape with, of all things, a gas station.

In the not-too-distant future, gas stations will become obsolete, and thousands of abandoned stations will blight the country. As hard as it is to imagine the disappearance of this ubiquitous fixture of American life, the writing is on the wall due to the widely anticipated rapid adoption of electric cars.

General Motors recently announced that by 2035 all their vehicle models will be electric. By 2030, VW expects 50% of US sales to be electric vehicles, and Ford says all their cars sold in Europe will be electric. Be ready for more such announcements as car companies scramble for a share of a burgeoning global market for electric vehicles.

Here in Georgia, the Korean automaker, Kia, which produces 340,000 vehicles a year at their Troup County factory, is investing $25 billion to transition their production to electric cars. Encouraged by this development and the in-state presence of several related businesses, Governor Kemp launched a new initiative to boost the expansion of the industry in Georgia.

“Georgia has a proven track record of investing early in the resources and infrastructure needed to connect it to the world and develop jobs of the future,” Kemp said. “The Electric Mobility and Innovation Alliance will ensure that our state is positioned to continue leading the nation in the rapidly growing electric mobility industry.”

...continue reading "Why are we Building New Gas Stations?"

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When discussing climate change, U.S. Representative Buddy Carter is fond of reminding his colleagues and his constituents that his district encompasses the entire coast of Georgia, as if this fact imbues him with an especially acute understanding of the issue. 

If only it were true. But alas, Mr. Carter consistently opposes legislative measures to curb the greenhouse gas emissions causing the climate to overheat.

Just last week, he appeared before the House Rules Committee (link to video) to oppose the reversal of the Trump administration’s rollback of an Obama-era rule that requires oil and gas companies to use the best available methods to control methane leaks.  

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. While not as long-lasting or as abundant in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, it is 84 times more potent in the short term. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of climate change would recognize the importance of employing every means at our disposal to cut methane emissions and quickly approve this measure.

All we get from Carter is confounding doublespeak about his concern for how climate change affects the Georgia coast and how doing anything about it hurts the economy.

Carter’s sophistry confused some of the committee members at first, but his insidious brand of climate denialism became more apparent the more he spoke.

...continue reading "Congressman Buddy Carter’s Climate Denialism on Full Display"

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On Monday afternoon, the Georgia Senate passed HB 150 – a bill prompted by the natural gas industry, alarmed by a Berkeley, California ordinance banning natural gas hookups in new construction.

Confronted with cities in Georgia and across the nation that have established policies to transition to 100% clean energy, the industry has responded defensively by lobbying to hamper such initiatives in over a dozen states. Georgia will be the fifth state to pass an industry-sponsored law prohibiting local governments and state agencies from following Berkeley’s example. 

Laws like this, known as preemption laws, are not new. The tobacco industry has been using this tactic to slow down public health measures that impinge on tobacco sales since the 1980s. In Georgia, the plastics and packaging industries tried and failed to preempt local plastic bag bans when the City of Tybee Island and Athens-Clarke County were considering bans back in 2015. Particularly egregious is the law passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2013 that prevents local governments from having a policy affecting wages paid by private businesses. This was prompted by the City of Atlanta passing a living wage ordinance for all contractors who use city resources or property.

The use of this tactic has grown over the past decade, as conservative state governments try to reign-in progressive local governments on a wide range of issues, such as fracking, plastic bags, rent control, minimum wage, municipal broadband, and more. Popular progressive policies fighting poverty, protecting public health and safety, and sustaining the environment are perceived as threats to profits and fought with prejudicial fervor by powerful members of the private sector.

...continue reading "The Fossil Fuel Industry Has Captured the Georgia Legislature"

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(Background: Center Co-Director Karen Grainey gave the following two-minute speech at a digital rally organized by Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo in opposition to HB 150. This bill aims to prevent "governmental entities from adopting any policy that prohibits the connection or reconnection of any utility service based upon the type or source of energy or fuel." The House passed the bill, and it will soon go to the Senate floor for a vote. The term "governmental entities" includes the growing number of cities that have set clean energy targets and all state agencies. Decatur recently joined Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Clarkston, and Savannah in passing a resolution to transition to 100% clean energy.)

There are many good reasons to support clean energy policies, but one reason stands out above the rest- the overheating of the Earth's climate. Nothing else will matter if the nations of the world fail to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  All our aspirations for a more just, equitable, and prosperous society will be crushed under the weight of an impending environmental collapse that will bring hunger, political division, and a societal breakdown of apocalyptic proportions.

...continue reading "HB 150 Sabotages Clean Energy Transition"