Environmental Protection Agency becomes Corporation Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency was chartered in 1970. Its stated mission:
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. Since 1970, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.
How times have changed.
In the hands of the environmental extremists in the Bush Business Administration, the EPA now seems to think that protecting Bush's corporate sponsors from the inconvenience of filling out paperwork is more important than its mission statement of protecting health and the environment.
The government wants to quit forcing companies to report small releases of toxic pollutants and allow them to submit reports on their pollution less frequently.
Saying it wants to ease its regulatory burden on companies, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed adopting a "short form" that would excuse companies from disclosing spills and other releases of toxic substances if:
_They claim to release fewer than 5,000 pounds of a specific chemical. The current limit is 500 pounds.
_They store onsite but claim to release "zero" amounts of the worst pollutants, such as mercury, DDT and PCBs, that persist in the environment and work up the food chain. However, they must report if they have stored dioxin or dioxin-like compounds, even if none is released.
EPA said it also plans to ask Congress for permission to require the accounting every other year instead of annually. The EPA's annual Toxics Release Inventory began under a 1986 community right-to-know law. The first year the change could be possible, if Congress agreed, would be 2008.
This is appalling news. One has to wonder if the announcement was timed to be buried under the horrific news of Katrina and Rita.
Once again, the health and safety of American citizens is less important to the Bush Administration than the convenience of big business. And, just how bad is the current burden on corporations?
Some big chemical companies said complying with the annual toxic inventory is not a problem for them.
"We are so in compliance it's not funny," Andrew Liveris, president of The Dow Chemical Company, told the AP. "We've adjusted to it many years ago."
Um, ok. So, the Bush Administration is fixing a problem that does not exist. Great.
So, why, other than a complete disdain for the health and safety of Americans, would these rules be changed? Could it be anything other than the Bush Administration is big business' bitch?
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. Since 1970, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.
How times have changed.
In the hands of the environmental extremists in the Bush Business Administration, the EPA now seems to think that protecting Bush's corporate sponsors from the inconvenience of filling out paperwork is more important than its mission statement of protecting health and the environment.
The government wants to quit forcing companies to report small releases of toxic pollutants and allow them to submit reports on their pollution less frequently.
Saying it wants to ease its regulatory burden on companies, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed adopting a "short form" that would excuse companies from disclosing spills and other releases of toxic substances if:
_They claim to release fewer than 5,000 pounds of a specific chemical. The current limit is 500 pounds.
_They store onsite but claim to release "zero" amounts of the worst pollutants, such as mercury, DDT and PCBs, that persist in the environment and work up the food chain. However, they must report if they have stored dioxin or dioxin-like compounds, even if none is released.
EPA said it also plans to ask Congress for permission to require the accounting every other year instead of annually. The EPA's annual Toxics Release Inventory began under a 1986 community right-to-know law. The first year the change could be possible, if Congress agreed, would be 2008.
This is appalling news. One has to wonder if the announcement was timed to be buried under the horrific news of Katrina and Rita.
Once again, the health and safety of American citizens is less important to the Bush Administration than the convenience of big business. And, just how bad is the current burden on corporations?
Some big chemical companies said complying with the annual toxic inventory is not a problem for them.
"We are so in compliance it's not funny," Andrew Liveris, president of The Dow Chemical Company, told the AP. "We've adjusted to it many years ago."
Um, ok. So, the Bush Administration is fixing a problem that does not exist. Great.
So, why, other than a complete disdain for the health and safety of Americans, would these rules be changed? Could it be anything other than the Bush Administration is big business' bitch?
posted by American Bad OZ @ 9/21/2005 06:42:00 PM
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