Leventis urges all to be green

S.C. State Sen. Phil Leventis urged hundreds attending the first Charleston Green Fair to be greener -- and to urge guzzlers to be green too.

"America must be the world leader in being green," said Leventis, D-Sumter. "You must tip the scale back to be balanced. Make America Green."

During his 15-minute keynote address, Leventis encouraged members of the audience at the outside fair to pick up a free copy of the Center for a Better South's 2007 Getting Greener: Progressive Environmental Ideas for the American South. He noted that the book would help readers make being green a way of life.

"Our humanity is at our highest and best when we care about our future," Leventis said.

Winter highlights issues forums

Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, a special friend of the Center for a Better South, today outlined how the nation's presidential libraries are beefing up policy conversations during the election season.

"For the first time in history, all 12 presidential libraries are hosting a series of public policy discussions — called National Issues Forums (NIF) — between Labor Day and Election Day, in the heat of the presidential campaign.

"For more than 25 years, forums convened by civic organizations in communities all across the nation have offered a different way to talk about public policy issues, one that is more deliberative."

• To read the governor's full op-ed column, go to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.