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May 06, 2008
Pleasant green signs, but what do they do?
Last week, the family and I drove to Nashville and back (well, we never saw Nashville, just part of Nolensville Pike), and I noticed some new driver awareness communications along Interstate 24.
Every so often, I would be kindly informed by a large and friendly sign that my vehicle was entering such-and-such watershed — and admonished to please keep it clean.
As the car glided horizontally across each watershed, on the asphalt surface, emitting only the barest minimum of pollutants, of course, I would barely be able to ponder how best to keep it clean, when I would be alerted about passing into a different watershed. "I hope I kept that last one clean, and I'll do my best with this one," I thought.
Now, I realize that some of the highway traffic in each locality is, in fact, local; and that these people have a chance to avoid making a negative impact on the watershed. Same with visitors who are stopping in a given area. But for distance drivers, truckers, and the like: what good are these signs?
And finally, what was their cost to taxpayers? Fortunately, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has the answer: $280,000.
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I want nothing more than to protect natural resources, including lakes, streams, and rivers, from abuse. I think there are ways to educate ourselves about how to better preserve our surroundings; and, yes, some of that education may come at a public cost. But these interstate signs just don't seem to do the trick.
Your thoughts?
Government | By joe lance | 10:56 PM