The environment, utilities disputes, and economic planning demand attention
Scott reveals three areas that commanded his attention during his governorship: the newly emerging issue of the environment, a dispute between public and private utilities providers, and addressing long-range economic planning.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Robert W. (Bob) Scott, February 4, 1998. Interview C-0336-1. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- JACK FLEER:
-
Now, we talked about teachers, we talked about highway contractors, we
talked about the business community, we've talked about
African-Americans. Were there any other groups that you thought were
important to touch base with, or know their concerns, as you
were—
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
Now, we're talking about during the period I was lieutenant
governor and preparing to race for governor?
- JACK FLEER:
-
To run for governor.
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
OK. One of the things that came to my mind, came to my attention: during
this period of time was the first time that there seemed to be dialogue
out across the state about concerns about our environment. So
environmental issues were beginning to come to the fore. It was
something kind of new. So when I ran for governor, I had a rather strong
environmental program. I didn't confer
with any organizations—I don't know that there
were any, unless the Sierra Club was around. They certainly
didn't have as many as they have now. And that concern grew
out of two things. First of all, the fact that there was beginning to be
talk about air pollution and waste treatment, those kinds of
things—not nearly to the extent it is now, but enough to make
me know it was on the public's mind. Number two, again, going
back to my dad and the environment in which I grew up, soil and water
conservation was always something that I knew about from my agricultural
background. My dad used to talk about water quality all the time. He
said that's the number one long-term problem in North
Carolina, is inadequate drinking water supplies. So that kind of came
naturally to me. And the time to me seemed to be right to push that kind
of agenda.
Another was, of course, settling the problem with the utilities, the
territorial issues between the rural electric cooperatives and the
private utilities. Oh, and the other was planning. I was surprised to
learn that there was no planning mechanism in state government, no
process. Planning was another thing that was beginning to be talked
about. Partly, this came as a result of the federal government sending
down large sums of money to the states for various purposes:
infrastructure needs, whatever. Water, sewer, that's
infrastructure. But they were saying, "You know, you folks got
to get your act together down there and do some planning on
what's needed, we just can't shovel out the money
to you."
So out of all that, we set up the State Goals and Policy Commission, and
began to do some long-range planning, set goals for the state and have a
vision of how we want to get there. We did that, and we
didn't really know what we were doing, how to do it, you
know. They did some good work, but again, because that was a thing that
I started, Governor Holhouser's administration
didn't really cater to that. Anything that I had was suspect,
of course. They kept it on, but really didn't use it. By the
time I got it started, and they found out what it was they were supposed
to be doing and actually get some planning going, I was about out of
office. Governor Holshouser didn't follow through on it.
Governor Hunt set it up again, under another name, and incidentally I
just attended a meeting at the Institute of Government where
they're trying to decide what to do with it. Bill
Friday's involved. They call it the Progress Board, now. But
I thought then and I think now that to be institutionalized, it ought to
be removed—it's been too much of a
governor's, you know, it's his goals, his agenda.
It ought to be removed from that political context and put over at the
Institute of Government, someplace like that. That's another
story.
But planning, environment, and, let's face it, the whole
question of law and order was very much involved at that time.