America's
air quality suffering
Once
again the Bush administration is tearing
down what has taken decades to put up.
In this case his pro-business administration
is lowering national air quality standards
by allowing major emitters such as power
plants to simply maintain their current
equipment rather than replacing it with
newer, less polluting equipment.
An
outrage, as it always is to look at the
Bush administrations environmental policy
eternally hinged with their corporate policy.
The decades it has taken to get halfway
decent standards set for large manufacturers
and energy companies are crushed underneath
the measly four years it has taken to start
walking backwards.
Whether
it's building oil derricks in the Arctic
Refuge or logging the national forests,
Bush has proved time and time again that
he can't give any less of a hoot about the
environment or the creatures living in it.
And
here's the wake up call. That means
us too.
Sound
minded citizens may not care about the polar
bears or the sea otters, but the creatures
this new political travesty is going to
harm is people, people. The air we
breathe has to be our most precious natural
resource, and unless we're all going to
start walking around wearing air-fed respirators
somebody has got to stop Bush's continual
move in the wrong direction.
The
worst part about all this is that Bush has
got all of his flunky cohorts heading the
environmental agencies that are supposedly
there to protect the environment, not destroy
it. He's got the Environmental Protection
Agency touting the good word about rewriting
the Clean Air Act as the Filthy Air Act.
The
Interior Secretary Gale Norton is a notorious
Bush-clone whose sole job is supposedly
to protect America's environment and natural
resources. But she was right behind
him when they planned to start drilling
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The
state of California seems to be the only
state determined to keep its air as clean
as possible. Gov. Gray Davis and other
state boards and commissions vowed to stand
against the revision.
With
dollar signs in his eyes Bush has revised
and repealed several environmental laws
and continues to do so unhampered by public
outcry. The voting public must see
past his victory speeches and ill-timed
tax rebates to see what Bush is really doing.
Bush and his corporate-America cronies are
out for the money and are willing to do
anything to achieve that goal.
Why
let the corporations decide what's best
for America and for the people who call
it home. It's our land too and manufacturers
and energy gurus don't have the right to
come in and destroy everything and pollute
our air and our water so they can make an
extra buck.
They
don't have that right unless we continue
to let Bush give it to them with his and
our blessing. |
