Burr understands value of siding with local folks

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has made it clear where he stands on the Navy's continuing quest for an Outlying Landing Field in either Virginia or North Carolina. If the Navy wants to put it in an area of this state where residents oppose it, Burr will do everything he can to pull the plug on Navy funding for the project. The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City reports that Burr, a member of the Senate Armed Service Committee (as is recently-installed Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat who also opposes the field where residents are against it), told the Advance he would play "a number of cards" including denying funding if the Navy pressed to put the OLF in an unwanted area. The Navy is looking at three sites in Virginia and two in North Carolina -- in Camden and Gates counties. The counties are formally on record against the OLF, and so are citizens.

What a turnaround this represents. Eight years ago, residents of Washington and Beaufort Counties were desperately combing the ranks of elected officials trying to find allies in their fight to keep the OLF from being built next to the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. For years they had a hard time finding anyone in high office to help them fight Washington, but the tide turned after they won a key victory in federal court when Judge Terrence Boyle ruled the Navy had not taken the required "hard look" at the environmental impact of the OLF in an area that harbors large migratory waterfowl that pose a threat to the Navy's aircraft and crews.

Later, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Gov. Mike Easley, as well as Burr, took strong stances against the OLF. Had Dole taken a leadership position against the OLF earlier in the fight, she would have gotten a lot of credit from the environmental community -- and that would have made it a lot harder for Kay Hagan to unseat her in last fall's election. It would not have been the only issue, of course, but it would have helped Dole. Burr, whose seat is up in 2010, is a savvy politician who understands the value of being on the same side as the people.