The Great Dictators and the State of New Jersey

Now that the countless “year in review” articles about 2009 politics have concluded, two stories from one state still seem awfully puzzling. They both concern controversial world leaders with a growing amount of domestic support … and they both happened in the great state of New Jersey.

One is about an island between Camden, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That one involved none other than Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The other – taking place in much-different northern New Jersey – features the equally (if not more) eccentric Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.

The latter story – being a bit bizarre, maybe even ugly, and all the while insightful into the high-strung world of small-town New Jersey (seen Anytown, U.S.A anyone?) – certainly does not make the Garden State look normal. To make a long story short, Engelwood, New Jersey’s mayor did not want Gaddafi there when the foreign leader was to appear at the U.N. (see http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE57N53J20090824, and also - for somewhat of an international perspective - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/25/muammar-gaddafi-englewood-new-jersey).

Eventually, the Libyan leader backed out of his plans, and decided not to pitch his tent (literally) in the Garden State (see the New York Times for article and photos http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/nyregion/29libya.html. Additionally, for a hilarious article about what Gaddafi said before the U.N. - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/23/gaddafi-un-speech).

The other story from New Jersey, however, has some more explaining to do.

You do not need to know much about Chavez to know that he can be impulsive, neigh downright careless in what has traditionally been an arena filled with tact and quiet reservation: international affairs. If you think that I am just making this up, I recommend taking the time to see for yourself how he megalomaniacalyl brought his country to the brink of war with neighboring Columbia while hosting his hours-long Sunday variety show on Venezulian television (available with excellent commentary – which helped me to formulate my opinion of Chavez – in the first part of a Frontline documentary through this link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/view/?utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid).

Nevertheless, it seems odd that not more has been said in popular media about his announcement that CITGO would be giving an island (specifically Petty’s Island) to the state of New Jersey (see CNN’s coverage of this announcement http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/23/venezuela.island/index.html).

What I cannot figure out clearly are Chavez/CITGO’s motivations. On one hand, for Chavez the decision seems to have implied a certain degree of moralizing – according to CNN his decision was part of last year’s Earth Day, and to me the message is clear without being overt: Chavez is criticizing the United States and its environmental policies, and simultaneously allowing now-departing Governor John Corzine to take credit for improving the environment of New Jersey by opening up a new park. But this could only be proven had their been a more visible message from Chavez – just about anything that attempted to lecture the United States government in a public way but without making the bargain too difficult for Corzine to swallow. That has not happened yet.

Then, of course, on the other hand, there is the almost bizarre possibility that Chavez actually cares about the environment in and of itself enough to have made this decision. Some evidence does, in fact, point towards this direction – a press release from Corzine noted that “CITGO [i.e., Chavez] has agreed to create a $2 million stewardship fund to allow the Natural Lands Trust to manage the island. The company is setting up another $1 million fund to assist in establishing a cultural and education center. The eventual recreational development of the island will be limited to passive activities, such as trails for hiking and bicycle riding.” (http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/2009/approved/20090422a.html) $3 million dollars and property is pretty impressive for a company to shell out over ideals alone.

CNN (who, it should be noted, cut the CITGO lead and made it seem as though Chavez personally controlled the whole decision) also emphasized these details. Nevertheless, in two press releases from Governor Corzine’s office (which were characteristically propagandized like all public relations releases) the decision was not only made through the ‘brilliant’ leadership of Corzine – but represented a major contribution to the environment of New Jersey that … err … would not be completed until at least 2020! (http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/2009/approved/20090422a.html and http://www.state.nj.us/dep/newsrel/2009/09_0002.htm).

In a larger way, the story has some interesting things to say about the nature of environmentalism, international corporations, and land use in the United States. English common law as well as the American Constitution both could not have foreseen the complexity of such an interaction: a major industrial corporation, lead by a socialist foreign leader, which owns a large amount of land in the United States, decides to donate that land to the government of a state while citing environmental concerns. If James Madison were a lawyer working on the case, he might have wished that he could have included some more things into the Constitution itself – i.e. a paragraph here concerning foreign influence over property in the United States, a sentence there implying where in our federalist system does the prerogative to environmental reserves lies, and also a footnote stating whether or not governors have any right to brag about receiving large land donations from ideologically dubious foreign leaders.

Adding to the confusion, although CITGO is in fact donating the land as well as millions of dollars, a number of seemingly hard-line demands were emphasized at their expense: “The state will assume no liability for cleanup of past pollution on the island. CITGO will turn the island over to the Natural Lands Trust to manage after the company removes petroleum facilities that include a tank farm and asphalt-blending operation. The DEP must certify that contamination has been cleaned up according to state standards. The cleanup terms will be covered under a separate agreement with the DEP,” (http://www.state.nj.us/dep/newsrel/2009/09_0002.htm) and “The DEP must certify that the cleanup has met state standards before the title can be transferred. The earliest the transfer can occur is 2020, which is three years following the expiration of a lease an active shipping terminal has with CITGO. This gives CITGO time to address any potential contamination at the shipping terminal property.” (http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/2009/approved/20090422a.html).

Well, it looks like we might need to wait ten years to see how this unfolds, but in the meanwhile I recommend asking everyone you know to try to explain the motivations behind this decision. Why would a money-bent industrial superpower like CITGO be so willing to give up the things it loves the most – money and resources – so easily and without a clear motivation?

My best guess is that CITGO simply expects that their Petty’s Island location will no longer be profitable by 2020. It would rather layoff workers, leave the area and still maintain face (perhaps majorly so) by spending money in order to make the transaction look like an altruistic one. The previously highlighted stipulations by the state of New Jersey are probably not much more than a reiteration of what is already the legal process for the removal of an industrial plant – i.e. return the land without oil tanks and pollution covering it.

Further reading: http://en.mercopress.com/2009/04/21/chavez-not-only-gave-obama-a-book...but-also-an-island-in-new-jersey , http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/venezuela_president_looms_over.html , http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/24/chavez_gives_island_to_new_jersey_freaks_out_governor , http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/1958