Why is aggression always the Republican answer to problems these days? The drought in Georgia has heated up the rhetoric over state boundaries. First, Governor Perdue disputed Alabama's and Florida's rights to the water of the Chattahoochee River; now state Republicans are trying to get a piece of Tennessee.
In the late 1700s, the Tennessee-Georgia border was set at the 35th parallel. However, in the early 1800s, a surveying team placed the border at a little over a mile south of that parallel, and thus the Tennessee River has been within the Tennessee state line since that time. No one complained until this year, when Georgia Republican state senators introduced a bill to change the border back to the 35th parallel.
This is how Republicans want to solve Atlanta's thirst: not by conserving what we have, not by regulating growth and thus the out-sized demands on our resources; not by changing people's attitudes toward water use--but by stealing from our neighbors!
According to some news sources, changing the state line would also give Georgia a slice of Chattanooga and Mississippi a slice of Memphis.
1818 Map Error Raises New Water War Front," Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Drought-Thirsty Georgia Wants Slice of Tennessee," The Ledger
"Dehydrated Georgia Wants Slice of Tennessee," The St. Augustine Record
Updates: What Others Are Saying
"Bordering on Ludicrous," says the Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff, on Feb. 24, 2008
It's not just about water, says Sen. John Bulloch (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more)
Secret water talks affect more than those within I-284, says Dusty Nix , for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer editorial board
Border Bill a diversionary stunt by leaders who lack courage, says Bill Shipp, of the The Athens Banner-Herald, Feb. 24, 2008
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