Environmental consultant Leon G. Billings speaks at land use public forum
The League of Women Voters of Sussex County kicked off its 2015-16 Land Use Forum series Sept. 16 in the Sussex County Council chambers in Georgetown. The series is part of the league's continuing efforts to educate the public and solicit concerns and vision for the future development of Sussex County, with particular regard to the Sussex County Comprehensive Plan.
The forum featured guest speaker Leon G. Billings of Bethany Beach. He gave a behind-the-scenes perspective on the crafting of the 1972 Clean Water Act, a seminal piece of federal legislation in the environmental protection arena. Billings is an environmental consultant and the principal majority author of the legislation.
Billings discussed the judicial opinions that have shaped the act into the legacy that it is today. It is noteworthy that both the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate with the overwhelming support of both political parties.
According to Billings, it is estimated that the federal government had jurisdiction over only 45 percent of the nation’s waters in 1972. Today, that percentage has increased to 95 percent of the nation’s waters.
When asked what he perceives as the next big challenge in the environmental arena, Billings cautioned the audience not to underestimate climate change. He said the next challenge would be “how to mold national policy on climate change the way we molded national policy on the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.”
Billings discussed the importance of addressing sea level rise, especially in coastal states such as Delaware, and on resolving the alarming challenge of saltwater intrusion into sources of drinking water due to over-pumping of freshwater aquifers for potable water.
It is only through the will of the public that these pressing issues will be addressed, and Billings was quick to encourage members of the audience and their friends and neighbors to get involved and stay involved, whether on these or other issues, including the upcoming Sussex Comprehensive Plan revision initiative.
Billings also pointed out the important role of the League of Women Voters in helping shape the Clean Water Act. Fifty years ago, there were no experts and no environmental groups to advocate for the environment. However, the league was there from the beginning, serving the “singularly important element of political structure” that is now taken by contemporary environmental groups. For more information, go to www.sussexlwv.org.
