Letter: In light of environmental challenges, Mid-States Corridor is a bad idea
At the top of the Heritage mural at 6th and Newton Streets in Jasper are the words “Born from Rich Soil” and below the image two working men with horses and a wagon loaded with logs in a sea of corn are prominently depicted. Yet sadly, these past few years farmers and their associated businesses are being marginalized and left out of the decision-making process on issues that affect their lives deeply.
As we begin a new year with crippling ice and snow over the Midwest farm belt and east coast, while drought and raging fires create havoc in the west, is it really a good idea to pave our still “rich soil” to drive more farmers off their lands in order to build a new truck route to bring foods from far distant places to Southern Indiana along with more urban crowding and congestion? Indeed, with disasters of all kinds worldwide, and plenty more in the making, shouldn’t we pause to consider our own small place in this world, and where the more distant future leads?
Human history has provided deep glimpses into what happens when places experience too much unwise growth. I was born here 80 years ago, left for college and returned to my Dubois County roots. Over the years I have observed that new highways everywhere destroy what makes a place truly prosperous.
In South Central Indiana alone, we have seen countless family farms diminished and farmland taken out of production. We see the damage new highways do to the very small towns that are bypassed as well as the larger ones. Now that cities have become overcrowded and more congested, we are currently seeing a move towards turning rural areas into “sacrifice zones” by attempts to relocate polluting industries in less populated places which can only create more problems for the regions they pass through. And all this while the exorbitant costs are passed on to the next generations.
We cannot predict what the future weather will be like, or what kinds of disasters of all kinds might occur in the next 25 years and in fact, we don’t know if trucking food around the world will even be possible. However, we can prepare for a more livable future during bad times and good. A first step would be to focus on fixing the roads we have, and getting wasteful expenditures and endless debts off the books. Then we can work together to create a more resilient community that can thrive despite the unpredictable changes that loom ahead. That’s what makes a community a good place to visit as well as to put down roots in.
Even if like me you don’t farm but are as concerned as I am about the many negative impacts the Mid-States Corridor project would have on the towns along the route—including Jasper–and the entire region we know as home, please consider donating to the Property Rights Alliance at PO Box 64, Jasper IN 47546. And if possible, attend the legislative breakfast scheduled for Jan 18, 2025 at 9:00 am at the VUJC Campus CTEM Building. Let’s keep our Southern Indiana home livable for all of us now and into the future.
Sincerely,
Jeanne Melchior
Jasper
