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Good news, bads news on the environment |
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Bill Horne,
Tuesday, September 5th, 2006 |
...I don't think the left wing or right wing has anything to do with solving environmental problems. It seems to me that it only matters whether our representatives have the people's best interest at heart or whether they just do the bidding of the special interests...
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Folks, the editor, Rory Ryan, wrote a column on "a satirical look at environmentalists" last week and it reminded me that it was time to look at this critical issue once again.
The editor's point seems to be to show how liberals and left-wingers are hypocrites when it comes to protecting the environment. And, that they talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.
It seems to me that we are all hypocrites where pollution is concerned. And if we can't admit to that, then we probably should admit to being self-righteous.
I like to think that I am a conservationist. But I am sure Rory would point out that since I only buy vehicles made in America and that because American-made cars are generally not as fuel-efficient, I should be labeled a hypocrite also.
I don't buy communist China goods either, but I am sure that a search of our home would produce something made in China. Actually, because of corporate support of communist China, it is becoming increasing more difficult to locate items not made in China. I've even had to search antique shops to find some things like hand tools.
In any case, the issue is not whether we are hypocrites or self- righteous, but whether we try to protect our environment or not.
When I was a kid, on the same farm that we now live on, I could sit out on the porch in the evening and listen to whippoorwills by the dozens make their calls. There were a "gazillion" lightning bugs and our streams had frogs in them.
So far this year I have heard one whippoorwill call and although there are some fire flies their numbers are just a small percentage of what they used to be. I haven't seen a frog for a while either.
Losing the birds, bugs and frogs is probably not as important in the grand scheme of things, as it is to me, but it is a sign of our time.
The fact that most of us are hypocrites where the environment is concerned should not mean that we just give up. It also should not mean that because there are some inconsistencies in our thinking that we should give up.
The editor stated that, "killing fish is good. Well, except for the fish." He must have chosen not to worry about the mercury that our fish carry around in their bodies.
We hypocrites continue to use electricity even though we know that to produce it we are dumping tons of mercury into the air. The mercury then finds its way into our water and into our fish and then it causes too many children to have brain damage.
We could look at all types of environmental issues but for now let's just look at what we hypocrites are doing to our water.
For more than 30 years, we have been improving our water quality. However, three years ago our federal leadership decided that some of our water no longer needed protection.
What the administration decided when implementing this new policy, was water that was isolated, "no obvious perennial surface connection to other water," from water that is used by the population no longer needed to be protected.
This "no protection policy" as it is called, only requires that the water be isolated at some time during the year. So if a stream dries up during the summer, then it is considered to be isolated.
This policy presents some unusual situations.
We have a law that states that U.S. companies cannot mine on certain federal lands. Foreign companies, however, can mine these lands. This is probably because of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Because of this silly situation, a Canadian mining company can, and does, take our gold and dump its waste anywhere it wants to because the area is "water isolated." Of course, when it does rain this crud washes down stream to the water supply of one of our major cities.
The bad news is more than a hundred million American citizens currently live within 10 miles of water that is too polluted for our children to play in.
The good news is that we have not had a waterway catch on fire since the Cuyahoga River did so in 1969.
The bad news is that the administration is offering a pollution trading plan that will allow polluters to buy credits from non-polluters.
The good news is that the governor of Michigan is forcing his state's power plants to come into compliance on mercury reduction sooner than the federal government's requirement. It seems that he wants to be able to eat the fish in Michigan waters.
Let's hope that the federal government doesn't sue.
The bad news is that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing that poor communities be allowed to drink water that doesn't meet federal standards.
The good news is that a bipartisan group from Congress and the Senate has introduced a bill "Clean Water Authority Restoration Act" (CWARA) to protect our water.
Since this bill is bipartisan I suppose this means that there are some hypocritical, right-wing conservatives as well as left-wing liberals in the country.
Personally, I don't think the left wing or right wing has anything to do with solving environmental problems. It seems to me that it only matters whether our representatives have the people's best interest at heart or whether they just do the bidding of the special interests. |
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