To the editors:
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Second, contrary to the story, my staff did consult environmental groups and recyclers throughout the nation while drafting the ordinance. The contact may not have been as extensive as the groups would have liked, but I haven’t heard many complaints that my proposals aren’t tough enough. Therefore, I must ask what the point is.
Third, environmental groups and recyclers claim that I created the Recycling Advisory Task Force as a vehicle for business to scuttle the ordinance. Indeed, the story charges I “stacked” the recycling Task Force with business interests. However, of the numerous environmental and recycling groups I invited, only two agreed to serve on the Task Force. Greenpeace’s Sharon Pines, for example, is quoted in the story as saying she would not sit on the Task Force because she felt its purpose “seemed to be to eviscerate what seemed to be a good ordinance.” For the environmental groups to refuse to serve on the Task Force with the business interests and then to charge that the Task Force is stacked against them is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Chicago
Burke is upset that recyclers and environmental groups have been “sniping” at his proposals, instead of supporting them. Now that he’s sniped at them, does he think they’ll be in a more cooperative mood? Burke’s letter neatly illustrates one of the principal points of my article–that business lobbyists who oppose Burke’s bill are staying invisible, while environmentalists get blamed for stalling.
