PLNA Weblog

Green Infrastructure is the Future

Judging by 2009 PANTS, the economy seems to have turned the corner. PLNA’s green industry trade show welcomed 563 exhibiting companies, sold out the show floor and an up tick in attendance by five percent compared to 2008 to 8,273. Attendees and exhibitors alike, felt a positive buzz on the show floor a sense that that better times are coming.

This is consistent with other economic indicators that seem to confirm that the bottom of the recession was reached this summer. To be sure we are not out of the economic woods and we still have a way to go before we get back to where we were in 2007, but the freefall we experienced in late 2008 and early 2009 apparently has ended.

This summer, we had the opportunity to attend the ANLA Legislative Conference in Washington,D.C. This biennial gathering of the green industry from around the country is an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest federal policy developments and to meet face-to-face with our Senators and members of Congress. I was joined by PLNA’s director of government relations Chad Forcey and eight PLNA/ANLA members from Pennsylvania.

We were able to meet with fourteen of our members of Congress or their staffs. Our lead issue was “green infrastructure,” using trees and plants to handle jobs from stormwater management to air quality improvement. We urged our members to build into federal legislation recognition and financial support for green infrastructure, from tax credits for residential tree planting to a set-aside for plantings in federal funding for highways.

A central part of our discussions was PLNA’s white paper on green infrastructure (go to www.PLNA.com to download a copy), which outlines the many environmental and economic benefits of managed landscapes. I was pleased to have been invited by ANLA to address the conference on our initiatives in Pennsylvania on this issue.

Our Congressional delegation was very receptive to our discussions about the benefits of green infrastructure. PLNA, with the support of Senators Specter and Casey, was successful in having 30% of all federal clean water funds set aside for green infrastructure. In July, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVest) awarded over $100 million in federal green infrastructure projects across Pennsylvania for urban tree plantings, rain gardens, green roofs and other green infrastructure projects.  

Its clear to me that green infrastructure is a trend that will help pull this industry out of this recession and will drive growth into the next decade. Philadelphia has a plan to plant 300,000 trees over the next five years.  Pennsylvania is planning to plant a million trees in the next five years. New York City plans to plant a million trees. If you don’t know what green infrastructure is about, go to www.PLNA.com and download our white paper. It could be your future.

PSCFO 9-14-09 Meeting on Animal Welfare

Download PSCFO 9-14-09 Animal Welfare Audio

Act 132 Webinar Audio Files 3-31-09

Download Contractor Registration Webinar 3-31-09 All Edited

Click the link above to download the March 31, 2009 Act 132 Webinar with the Attorney General's office and PLNA.

The Economy, Stupid

We all remember that famous line that James Carville posted in the Clinton campaign headquareters during the 1992 presidential campaign.  Above all else, except perhaps war, the economy is largest single determinant of the political fortunes of presidential asperants.  When it's good, the economy figures little in voter decison-making; when it's bad, the party in power usually pays dearly.

It looks like the economy will be a significant factor in this year's presidential election.  As I rode into the office this morning, I heard reports of all the major stock indices around the world being in free fall.  Most of this, in my view, is an over-reaction to the sub-prime mortgage mess and the demand of investors that the U.S. government "DO SOMETHING, NOW!"

What, if anything, should the U.S. government do?  The president has proposed a series of tax breaks of roughly $150 billion to inject money into the economy.  The foreign stock exchanges shouted, "Not enough!" by their performance yesterday and this morning.

One problem with recessions is that they are largely a phenomenon of economists.  We often don't know we are in one until we are out of it.  Recessions are defined by two consecutive quaters of negative GNP growth.  Since economists don't get the data on GNP until well after a quarter closes, they are often calling a recession months after the economy is back on a growth track.

A second problem is that government reaction to a recession often takes so long to happen that any spending designed to inject growth into the economy ususually occurs as the economy starts growing on its own.  Consequently, the real impact of increased governmental stimulus spending is often to stimulate inflation. 

But politicians that ignore calls for so-called "stimulus packages" will pay dearly at the polls.  I predict we will have a stimulus package, whether or not we are really in a recession now.  We won't know until sometime toward the end of 2008 or early 2009, after the economists pore over their charts and numbers, do a few incantations and read the chicken bones.   (I worked as an economist at one point in my career, so I can say these things.)

Third, recessions are as much a psychological phenomenon as an economic phenomenon.  That is, we tend to talk ourselves into them and out of them.  For example, the sub-prime mess is a very small proportion of all outstanding debt.  Clearly, those affected feel the impact of a rapidly escalating mortagage interest rate.  But the reaction of the markets to this is all out of proportion to it's real threat to the overall health of the U.S and the world economies. 

In short, if everyone believes we are in economic trouble and everyone starts behaving like we are in economic trouble, we will talk ourselves into economic trouble.  A recession becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Can we wish ourselves to economic prosperity?  No, but we can behave positively by continuing to act rationally and continuing to run our businesses in a prudent and forward-looking way.   

Separately or together?

One of the characteristics I enjoy about our industry is the way all segments work together and see the connections that bind us together.  Pennsylvania is fortunate that we have a unified association in PLNA that can represent landscape contractors, growers, retail garden centers and allied industries with one voice.

   

Our unity gives PLNA a bigger footprint and greater clout when making our case to legislators and regulators.  So while legislation such as the ACRE* law primarily benefited growers, our ability to speak as a unified industry helped PLNA successfully negotiate key provisions of that law that also benefited landscape contractors and retail garden centers.

 

But on the immigration issue, I am seeing the start of some cracks within our ranks.

 

Immigration has become one of the most contentious political issues of our time.  What seemed to be a unified legislative approach to solving the issue involving all of agriculture, labor unions, Republican and Democrat in Congress has now fractured.  The coalition, carefully built on trust over many years, is now in pieces.  And as a small crack that starts in the corner of your windshield, the fracture is spreading into our own ranks in the green industry.

 

The latest crisis has been the expiration of the cap extension for the H2B guest worker visa program that many of our landscape contractors use to hire seasonal workers.  The cap extension expired last fall and our landscape contractors that use it are desperate to assure that they can get the workers they need for this spring.

 

We have heard from many members that will have to downsize their businesses and layoff full-time employees if they cannot get their H2B workers.  Some are even contemplating closing their doors if the H2B crisis is not resolved. What does this portend for growers who sell plant material to landscape contractors?  Or suppliers of pavers or equipment?

   

But lately, we began to hear other segments of our industry and those contractors that do not use the program murmur, “Not our problem.”   Some have asked us not to email or fax them requests to contact their congressional representatives about the issue.

 

As an industry, we cannot afford to be that narrow-minded.  A fix for the H2B program may not be your top priority today, but what issue will you need your colleagues’ help on tomorrow that may not be their top priority?

 

In the words of that venerable Pennsylvanian, Ben Franklin, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, "We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately."

   

Let’s hang together.

   

*ACRE prevents local governments from passing ordinances that are contrary to the Pennsylvania “Right to Farm Act” and other state laws protecting agriculture.   

Note to Cities: Immigration = Economic Development

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a forum in Pittsburgh on everyone's favorite hot button issue: immigration. The Heinz foundation sponsored the event at one of Pittsburgh's seemingly ubiquitous hip theatres - the Hazelett. Pittsburgh is a city in transition. Big steel is still the sentimental industry associated with Pittsburgh, but with the industry in decline, and biotech and high tech ascendant, the city looks towards a vibrant future. A young and determined group of entrepenuers, investors, educators, and public officials - together with the city's "old money" establishment - is begining to come together to tackle big challenges as the city moves rapidly into its next phase. Many of these movers and shakers attended the forum last night, and the guest list was impressive. James P. Smith, who holds the chair in labor markets and demographic studies at the Rand Corporation, lent a good deal of credibility to the consensus opinion of the night - that immigration is good, and in fact necessary, for America. Mr. Smith explained that his research clearly demonstrates that the resurgance of key American cities in the 1990s and the current decade has a lot to do with immigration - legal and otherwise. "They are the new entrepenuers," he explained. "They don't come with much, but they do come with the sense that they can pursue their dreams here. They can work as many jobs as they want to, they can buy a dilapidated building in Philadelphia and start a restaurant, they can send their kids to college. They come with energy and enthusiasm, and that is why we need them here." Jim Kenney, a Councilman at-large for the City of Philadelphia, noted that the immigrants in his city were revitalizing neighborhoods one block at a time. "They create jobs, they come into communities that are crime-ridden and unsafe and start businesses, and they are making Philadelphia a better place to live." Mr. Kenney talked at length about his efforts to get the city to create an office for immigration services. "Boston has done it, to their benefit. St. Paul has done it. I have fought with our mayor and the council on this issue for years, and I have not been able to convince the powers that be to designate an office or person to coordinate information and resource management into a clearinghouse for new immigrants. But I am going to keep trying."

Mr. Kenney agreed wholeheartedly with Mr. Smith's assesment that in our post 9/11 America, we are fighting our own best interests with ample myths and a deep sense of angst about immigration. He illustrated our American sense of self-protection and community preservation in an interesting way. Taking the audience back to his childhood as second generation Irish kid in Philadelphia, he said "if one of the Irish Catholic kids brought home an Italian Catholic girl to meet the family for dinner, the rosary beeds were out in both houses. If you were Italian, you didn't move into my neighborhood. Period."

I think we're still that way, and that is a part of who we are as Americans - we have a "take care of your own" instinct. That's why are churches are singularly black, or white, or hispanic, or Korean. So while our creed includes "bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," we also cling to the familiar and the known. We do fear the stranger. 9/11 brought that fear front and center in American society. No matter that the 9/11 hijackers were all here with legitimate visas, we decided to take out our worries about the new global economy, terrorism, and our multi-cultural tensions on illegal Mexican and Latin American immigrants. How we came to this odd conclusion, collectively, still baffles me. But that is the conclusion that haunts us, and it is why the Congress is unable to deal with the issue. Its their voters vs. agriculture, the business community, and to an extent, organized labor. Its the economy vs. our fears. How can either side win that fight?

Dan Eichenlaub was with me. Dan owns a landscape contracting company in Pittsburgh. He addressed the audience, and noted that his company would not and could not succeed without the contributions of visa workers under the H-2B program. His comments promted passionate applause, and I thought to myself, if only all the audiences we stand in front of really got it on immigration. Thankfully, the Pittsburgh citizens who really care about the future of their city came last night. It is always a small group of people who make the most difference. I mentioned to Mr. Smith of Rand Corporation fame that the cities need to join the front lines of this debate in Harrisburg and Washington; that we need more stakeholders to join the fight. "Don't worry," he said, "they will. The few of you who are fighting this issue are going to get it done - it doesn't take a multitude." That was encouraging for me to hear, and its something we can all be reminded of as we press forward on this most challenging of issues.

The "Original" Green Industry

There is a new environmental movement underway in this country and the world.  Some are referring to it as the “third wave.”  This third wave is not entirely new, but in many ways is an extension of growing environmental awareness that started with Thoreau, Whitman, Muir and Pinchot in the 19th century.   The first wave or “conservation” movement, as this has become known, focused on preserving wild and natural areas and led to our national park system.

Most trace the start of the second wave of environmentalism to Rachel Carson’s (a Pennsylvanian!) book, Silent Spring in 1962.  Carson’s book documented the impact of DDT on bird populations as the DDT moved up the food chain from insect to birds and started the public demand for laws to regulate the use and disposal of toxic materials and new federal environmental laws like the Clean Air and the Clean Water Acts in the early 1970’s.  Environmentalism in this second wave focused on regulation and enforcement.

The third wave is characterized by the phrase “think globally, act locally.”  Regardless of what you think about the scientific basis for global warming or climate change, world governments and much of the public have embraced it as fact.  Third-wave environmental awareness considers global conditions, but encourages local public and private actions to address the problems.  The third wave focuses responsibility on the individual to take action by their lifestyle and personal choices.  In addition, the search for market-based incentives to accomplish environmental goals characterizes this third wave.  These two characteristics, personal action and market-based incentives, create tremendous new opportunities for the green industry if we can adapt and harness them.

As people try to think globally and act locally, what better place to start than in their own backyards!  This can mean a wide variety of opportunities for landscape contractors and garden centers, from organically-based lawn treatments to landscaping for wildlife habitat.  Think about your business and how you define yourself.  Is you business just selling plants or helping homeowners create environmental solutions in their own back yards.

If you think this third wave does not have a strong consumer demand component, just look at hybrid cars.  Toyota, the world leader in hybrid automobile technology, cannot keep up with the demand for their electric/gasoline hybrid models.  Toyota sells regular gasoline models that get better mileage than their hybrid models, yet people wait for months and pay more than sticker price to drive a hybrid. 

People are willing to pay a premium for products and services that they believe help them act locally to solve a global problem.  What the green industry sells are products and services that help people act locally to solve a global problem!

Then consider a solution to global warming, carbon sequestration.  Many scientists identify as the major contributor to climate change the release of carbon dioxide by the burning of carbon-based fuels such as coal and oil.  A solution being pursued on many fronts is to “sequester” the carbon in the air by the process of photosynthesis.  As we all know, photosynthesis absorbs carbon dioxide, uses the carbon to build cells and expels pure oxygen.  Plants are the earth’s lungs.

Trees are some of the most efficient plant systems at sequestering carbon because of their cell structure and longevity.  But not just any trees.  Young trees.  A rapidly growing young tree is one of the most efficient plant systems at taking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and keeping it tied up in its woody cell structures.

Markets are developing for buying and selling “carbon credits.”  While not as prevalent in the U.S. as other countries because the U.S. did not sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, other countries are looking to the U.S. as potential sources of carbon credits.  In many countries, if you are producing more carbon dioxide that allowed under the Kyoto Protocol, you can either reduce your production of CO2 or offset that by purchasing carbon credits.  Carbon credits are earned by practices that reduce or remove CO2 from the atmosphere.  A nursery growing trees is one of the most productive generators of potential carbon credits.  These credits have monetary value and can be sold on world markets.

Because of their superior ability to sequester carbon, demand for trees will continue to grow.  Chicago has long had an aggressive street tree planting and care program, Mayor Daley recently reaffirmed his commitment to make Chicago the “green city.”  Mayor Bloomberg just launched a program to plant 1 million trees in New York City.  Governor Rendell launched the TreeVitalize tree planting program for the Philadelphia area several years ago.

The green industry can be at the heart of this third wave of environmental awareness.  After all, we are “the original green industry!”  Are we ready to take advantage of it? 

Real Change

The slim, wizened farmer in his crumpled John Deere “gimme” cap sidled up to the desk where the poll worker was sitting at my polling place in the township maintenance garage.  The steel-grey sky portended the rain the radio had promised for later in the day.  It was a few minutes before 7:00 AM and the polls had not yet opened.

“Tell me,” the farmer inquired in a low voice, “How do I change my registration to independent?  I’ve had it up to here with the political parties.”

We hear the word “change” frequently as we listen to the pundits and victors in yesterday’s midterm elections.  “The American people want change!”  “Pennsylvanians voted for change!”

But what is change?  Change from what to what?

I would caution those that were the beneficiaries of the changes to use care in reading the mood and meaning of the electorate as they spoke with their ballots yesterday.  The overarching message in those millions of ballots was one, I think, of frustration with a system that does not appear to work for people. 

In Pennsylvania, voters showed their frustration with the legislative pay raise.  Nationally, voters reacted to elected officials lining their own pockets, behaving in morally reprehensible ways, and pursuing ideological-driven policies that have lost all relationship to practicality and benefit to the average American.

So lest the victors assume that the people have conferred on them a “mandate” to take this country in radical new directions, it is my contention that they have not.  The changes Americans want to see are public servants that do not sell their office, that behave in ways that do not embarrass their constituents or families, and that pursue policies that are based on practical approaches to solving real problems, not ideological dogma.  In short, Americans want a government that works for them.

So, I humbly offer a few thoughts to the new Democratic majority in the House (and perhaps the Senate) and President Bush for actions which quickly can show the American people that this message of change has been received and understood.  Show us a sign.

In this past Congress, bipartisanship was trampled, save for one issue that saw a coalition of conservative, liberal, labor union, business association, worker advocate and business owner join in common cause: immigration reform.  In a carefully crafted piece of legislation that was shepherded by Pennsylvania’s own Senator Specter through his Senate Judiciary Committee to the Senate floor, the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006” passed that Chamber this past May.  The Bill’s cosponsors ran the political gamut, from Senator Edward Kennedy (D- MA) to Lindsey Graham (R-SC).  From there the bill ran into the ideological buzz saw that was the House of Representatives, where it now sits.

This legislation is a textbook piece of political compromise, with all sides giving some or a lot toward the goal of solving a real problem.  The bill deals with the issues of border protection, reforming the guest worker program and dealing in a fair, but firm way with the 12 million illegal immigrants that are now working in our economy.

So, for the new Democratic majority, show the American people that “change” means accomplishing things quickly in a bipartisan way.  Please avoid the temptation to use your new power to seek retribution.  America needs positive leadership from Congress as never before.

For President Bush, here is a chance to use your considerable people skills and the Presidential “bully pulpit” to bring people to the table to get things done, much as you did in Texas as governor.  Show us that you will embrace the new political reality and use it for all our benefit.

That would signal the beginning of the change we all sought on Tuesday.

The Hourglass

One of the most pressing issues we regularly hear from our member companies is that they can’t find enough employees.  It comes up in survey after survey and in conversations in every part of the state.  In many cases, Pennsylvania landscape and nursery companies have turned to immigrant workers to fill the gap and get the work done.

I was in Dallas, Texas last week at a meeting of other landscape and nursery association staff and volunteer leaders from around the country.  We gather every two years to exchange ideas and look at issues affecting the green industry, our members and our associations.  One of the speakers, Jeff DeCagna from Alexandria, Virginia, spoke about the demographic and technological trends affecting the economy generally and our industry specifically.

As an association, we are heavily engaged in the immigration reform issue.  Immigrant workers are an increasing percentage of our work force and many of our member nurseries and landscape contractors could not survive without them.  But one of the issues we often face when talking to legislators about immigration reform is the question: “Why don’t you just hire ‘Americans’ (which usually means native-born U.S. citizens).”  Our response is that our member companies simply can’t find enough workers without turning to immigrants. 

But what I learned in Dallas last week was not only can’t our members find “American” workers, there simply aren’t enough “American” workers.  It’s a phenomenon known as the “hourglass” among demographers.

Baby Boomers, the generation born just after WWII, from 1946 to 1964, are the largest generation in the country’s history, numbering 77 million.  When this generation came of childbearing age in the 1960 and 1970’s, the birth rate plummeted.  For many reasons, (birth control, affluence, greater female participation in the workforce, etc.) the Baby Boom generation had a much lower birth rate than their parents.  Consequently, the generation produced by the Baby Boomers, often called “Generation X” born between 1965 and 1985 was much smaller, only 49 million.  This generation, now in their 20's through early 40's, are of prime working age.  There simply is not enough of them to support an economy the size of the U.S. economy.

But there is good news!  The size of the generation following the Gen X’ers, the so-called "Generation Y,” those born between 1985 and 2003,  is almost the size of the Baby Boomers at 74 million.  Those folks are just now starting to enter the work force.  But even with the increased numbers of the Gen Y’ers, the workforce needs of the dynamic U.S. economy are still expected to outstrip the available native-born population.

Which is why the immigration problem must be solved if our economy is to continue to grow.  People come to this country to find work, feed their families and enjoy life in a free economy.  The United States has become the world’s largest, most resilient economy because of the work and innovation of immigrants.  People build an economy, not machines or resources.  Without, an influx of people, our economy will stagnate.  Each wave of new immigrants, whether from China, Italy, Ireland, Russia or Mexico has made our country and our economy stronger.  Now is not the time to build walls, but rather to embrace those who have come here to make a better life for themselves and their children.  Their desire to work hard and enjoy the fruits of their labor strengthens us all.

Change in the Wind

This November could be a watershed election, both nationally and in Pennsylvania.  We saw evidence of these changes in the Pennsylvania spring primaries, where incumbents lost at a rate not seen in decades.  Almost a third of incumbents in the General Assembly had opposition in their primaries; seventeen of those lost their primary, including Republican Robert Jubelirer, President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Republican Majority Leader of the Senate David “Chip” Brightbill, the first and second most powerful posts in the Pennsylvania Senate.  Voters in their districts were not happy.  Driven by the “pay raise” issue, many of the Harrisburg pundits referred to the May primary as an “earthquake.”

In addition to the defeats in the primary, a number of Pennsylvania lawmakers, sensing voter disquiet, decided to retire rather than face a bruising primary or general election in the November.  When the General Assembly convenes their 191st Session in January of 2007, we probably will see as many as 50 new faces.

So, the question I often get is “How will these changes affect Pennsylvania’s landscape and nursery industry?”  The answer I often give is, “It’s hard to tell.”

For sure, we have already lost some solid supporters of Pennsylvania agriculture and the green industry in the primary or by voluntary retirement.  Chip Brightbill as Senate Majority Leader holds a powerful position and understands the value of agriculture and the green industry, coming from a district in Lebanon and Berks Counties that encompassed many farms and nurseries.  His door was always open to us.  Noah Wenger, the “dean” of Pennsylvania agriculture in the Senate, will retire as senator from Lancaster County at the end of this year.  Senator Wenger also holds the key post of Senate Appropriations Chairman. 

We also will lose two key members of the House Agriculture Committee who have been stalwart supporters of the green industry, Vice Chair Sheila Miller from Berks County and Stephen Maitland from Franklin County, Representative Miller by retirement and Representative Maitland by primary loss.

It’s not so much the loss of their votes that can hurt our industry, but the loss of leadership and in-depth knowledge of our issues.  The General Assembly is a complex organization dealing with many complex issues.  Often, legislators develop a specialized knowledge and understanding of particular issues that their colleagues come to rely on and go to for advice and guidance on how to vote.  That is what we are losing in the legislators mentioned above.  When it comes to agriculture and the green industry particularly, they “get it,” and actively seek our opinion on legislation that could affect us.

But perhaps more serious in the long term than the loss of these legislative leaders is a more subtle, insidious trend that has more to do with changes in Pennsylvania’s demographics and development patterns than voter angst over the legislative pay raise.  As Pennsylvania rural areas “suburbanize,” issues that affect voters change.  Farmers and those engaged in agricultural businesses are becoming a smaller and smaller minority in once, predominantly rural legislative districts.  The voters that inhabit the new housing development that sprung from the dairy farm have different concerns than the farmer who sold the farm to retire.  And there are many more new residents than farmers.  We are losing political clout as rural Pennsylvania suburbanizes.

There is no more salient example of this than the race Art Hershey faces in southern Chester County this fall.  Representative Hershey is the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, has been dairy farmer for years before being elected to the General Assembly.  You cannot find a more passionate defender of Pennsylvania agriculture and the green industry.  But he has one of his most serious election challenges this fall against an opponent who is using Hershey’s passion for agriculture against him.  Residents of the many new housing developments in Hershey’s district are concerned about odors and other perceived inconveniences of living in an agricultural community.   

Hershey was the prime sponsor of ACRE, a law strongly supported by PLNA that was passed to prevent illegal ordinances by local governments that affected normal agricultural operations.  Hershey’s sponsorship of that legislation is now a key issue being used by his opponent against him.  I hope that by the time this reaches you, we can count on Art Hershey continuing to represent the green industry in the General Assembly.

So regardless of what happens this November, PLNA will have a big job on the Hill, making new friends and educating our new senators and representatives about Pennsylvania’s $5.6 billion green industry.

Please give us a hand!  If you live in a district with a new senator or representative, go visit them this fall before they get to Harrisburg and get caught up in the whirlwind that is new General Assembly session.  Tell them about your business and what issues concern you.  Then let the Chad or I know at the PLNA office so we can follow up with them here in Harrisburg.