Perspectives on Social Issues
(July 2004)
Housing Assistance Funds Endangered
"The President's FY 2005 budget would drastically cut funding for Section 8 housing by more than $1.6 billion and make a radical structural change in the program, converting it into a block grant to local housing agencies. The funding cut and the policy change to a "Flexible Voucher Program" are more threatening to the low-income families, elderly and disabled people whom the program serves than any proposal put forward by any prior Administration during the program's 30-year history.
The proposal would likely mean that housing agencies would have to terminate or immediately reduce current housing assistance, substantially reduce the number of families receiving housing assistance, no longer serve families who are the poorest and end affordability protections that place a ceiling on the percentage of household income that a family with a voucher may be charged for rent. The proposal represents the abandonment of progress in improving and expanding the voucher program. The cutback is unseemly given the 2003 U.S. Conference of Mayors Report that says the lack of affordable housing is the leading cause of homelessness."
"One Bright Spot: Snowe Child Care Amendment Passes" by Mary Elizabeth Clark, SSJ, Catherine Pinkerton, CSJ, and Anne Curtis, RSM , NETWORK Connection, May/June 2004.
Computers and the Environment
"According to Computers and the Environment, a new book by Ruediger Kuehr and Eric Williams (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003), the average desktop PC and monitor consumes more than 1.8 tons of water, fossil fuels, and chemicals in the production process -- as much as the production of an SUV. Equally egregious is the fact that many companies are shipping used computers either to prisons or overseas for recycling. These workers are paid extremely low wages to pick through the toxic components, looking for useful scrap. Fortunately, pending legislation in a number of states (including Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Rhode Island) would require computer producers to take more responsibility for their products. Some of the proposed bills ban certain toxic computer components at the state level, and others mandate that computer producers sponsor their own recycling (or "take-back") programs....
This summer, SVTC (Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition) plans to release a brand new update to their computer report card at www.svtc.org. The updated report card will help consumers purchase from a responsible computer company, scoring them not just on toxins, but also on other factors such as energy efficiency, labor issues, and take-back programs."
"Eco-computer Options," Real Money, May/June 2004.
Gas Prices Too High or Too Low?
"For many, this may seem a silly question. Conventional wisdom would advise any candidate who wants to get elected next fall that there is only one answer: gasoline prices are too high, and the federal government ought to hurry up and do something to bring prices down. But wait. Not so fast. Isn't cheap gas fueling suburban sprawl, urban gridlock, and the fracturing of communities and ecosystems by highways? Isn't cheap gas why more consumers are choosing to drive more miles each year in bigger, gas-guzzling vehicles? Isn't cheap fuel why tractor trailer trucks now clog our highways, replacing railroads as inter-city freight haulers? Aren't 'code red' summer smog days and the high incidence of asthma and respiratory ailments in urban communities caused in large part by burning cheap automotive fuels? Isn't the burning of cheap gas contributing to global warming?
And then there is the question of economic 'externalities.' Does the price paid by the consumer at the gas pump cover the full social cost of the fuel? Does it cover the costs of damage to public health or the environment or of providing military security for overseas oil supplies? Perhaps we should reconsider the question. Maybe the price of gasoline is, in fact, too low. Maybe cheap gas is not in the long-term public interest."
"Are Gasoline Prices Too High or Too Low?", Washington Newsletter, FCNL, May 2004.
Living Wage Campaigns
"Among the key principles shared by all faiths are the importance of paying workers fairly for their labor and the right of workers to perform their responsibilities with dignity. Across the country, people of faith are on the forefront of campaigns that are lifting workers out of poverty. The first Living Wage Campaign was won in Baltimore in 1994. Within five years, living wage campaigns were won in thirty municipalities from Miami to Boston to St. Antonio to San Jose. Living wage campaigns have passed in 120 communities.
Living wage campaigns are designed to raise the wages of low-income workers by requiring state or municipal contractors, or recipients of public subsidies or tax breaks, to pay employees wages above the federal minimum at a level referred to as a "living wage." In some cases, living wage laws provide businesses an incentive to provide health benefits. Living Wage proposals usually only apply to businesses that receive awards and benefits of more than $10,000.
In some cities, the "living wage" is set at the federal poverty level for a family of four, which is $8.85 per hour, for 52 weeks of full-time work. The federal poverty level for a family of three is $7.34 an hour, for 52 weeks of full-time work. Many cities have set two wage rates: one for wages with health insurance, and a higher wage rate without health insurance. Most cities that passed living wage ordinances set a wage higher than the poverty level wage. Several cities have living wage laws that require designated businesses to pay their workers more than $11 per hour."
"Giving Life to a Living Wage," Faith Works, National Interfiath Committee for Worker Justice Connection, May 2004.
Coca-Cola or Clean Water?
"Local residents of Kerala, India, are winning a battle against Coca-Cola India for clean ground water and soil, after months of collaboration with a BBC investigative reporter. 'The Kerala high court has now ruled that the company must find alternative water sources,' reports the BBC's John Waite, 'and only extract amounts of water from its Kerala plant equivalent to those used by any other landowner with 34 acres.'
Since the plant opened, spring water in the area is chalky and unhealthy for drinking, even after boiling. Area farmers found that their soil is contaminated with high levels of cadmium and lead, after Coca-Cola donated manufacturing waste as a 'fertilizer' to local farms. Coca-Cola's rapid extraction of water is quickly depleting Kerala's deep aquifer. The company uses the water for Coke, other carbonated beverages, and brand-ed bottled water. Coca-Cola India president Sanjeev Gupta said the issue is 'about being a positive contributor to the environment.' The company is appealing the Kerala court ruling."
"Coca-Cola or Clean Water?, Between the Lines compiled by Rose Marie Berger and Brain Bolton, Sojourners Magazine, April 2004.
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Gratitude to the Institute for Peace and Justice
for use of their Pope Paul VIth graphic. |
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