It has been a long time since the nation was first subjected to a controversy over billboards in scenic areas of the country. But the issue doesn't seem to stay resolved.
Back in 1965 the efforts of former first lady Lady Bird Johnson were crucial in convincing lawmakers to accept the Highway Beautification Act, putting restrictions on unsightly billboards. Ultimately, billboards were banned outright along scenic highways.Now, unfortunately, a House committee has given new life to the issue by approving a change in the law that would open a whopping 15,000 miles of scenic byways to billboard construction in commercial and industrial sections.
The House is considering the question as part of a package of amendments to the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. The bill's cagey authors, Reps. Bud Shuster, R-Pa., and Nick Joe Rahall II, D-W.Va., call it a "policy clarification."
They claim it is consistent with the Beautification Act, because it applies only to commercial and industrial sections of highways.
They are dead wrong.
In fact the suggested change is a travesty. Shuster, who is one of the leading recipients of political donations from outdoor advertisers, received $17,750 from such lobbyists in the first six months of this year.
Besides, that, the suggested change flies in the face of settled principles already agreed to by a Congress that by 1991 had become more environmentally minded. This is not the right time to throw those principles away.
There is no way that billboards, no matter what they advertise, can be considered anything but a degradation of scenic byways, even if confined to commercial areas.