I’m an environmentalist. My degrees are in zoology, soil science and forestry. I’m a trained arborist. I am a scientist. My career was spent carrying out research in forest productivity. I understand ecosystems.
The earth’s climate is undergoing climate change that is accelerated by human activities and Tybee must prepare for it.
The beach and surrounding waters are what bring people to Tybee in the first place. It is critical that we keep them healthy, unpolluted and trash free. I support the City’s ban on smoking on the beach and their aggressive approach to containing all potential litter on the beach.
Between the City and the State, we already have a good framework in place to protect our environment, but we must be ever vigilant in enforcing these protections.
On the State’s side we have laws protecting our beaches and dune systems and our saltwater marshes. The city partners with the state in enforcing these protections and is often the first point of contact when construction threatens these ecosystems.
On the City’s side we provide protection to nesting sea turtles, to our dune ecosystems and to our tree canopy. We sweep our streets to reduce trash in our storm water runoff. We require pervious surfaces to reduce stormwater runoff.
Even though we have a good framework in place we must remain vigilant. Builders clear cut lots then ask for after the fact variances or just pay the fines as the price of doing business. Others chip away at our sand dunes which are our first line of defense against storm surge. We need to crack down on these flagrant violations.
I believe that Tybee’s wellbeing depends on good environmental stewardship and I intend to advocate for it.
