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America raped and pillaged, while we are sleeping

By Beth Robinson | July 10, 2006 |

There have been many monumental defeats for our air, water and land recently. Most polls show that Americans are pro-environment. Instead of finding cleaner forms of energy or trying to reduce our gluttonous use, we allow our land and oceans to be handed over to the care of corporations.

I hate how they give such handsome names to these sinister laws. Who would guess that the ‘Clear Skies Act’ allows companies to increase pollution? It lessens the standards in the Clean Air Act passed over 30 years ago.

Passed the House in July 2006, if passed by the Senate, this legislation will lift the 25-year ban on offshore oil drilling in the US.

2. Sell off of U.S. public lands

3. Endangered Species Act - gutted

Crafted by House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA), this bill would gut the 30-year old Endangered Species Act, America’s safety net for fish and wildlife at the edge of extinction.

The bill eliminates habitat protection measures for fish and wildlife facing extinction, creates an exemption for the approval of potentially dangerous pesticides and establishes a new entitlement program for developers and polluters. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), implementation of the Pombo legislation will cost the U.S. taxpayer $2.7 billion over the next five years.” Sierra Club - http://www.sierraclub.org/legislativetracker/109HR3824.asp

I’m sorry to say there are MANY other examples.  Look at the EPA Green Book.  It refers to ‘Nonattainment Areas for Criteria Pollutants’. That sounds nicer than ‘EPA Black Book - Areas with higher than EPA regulated pollution’. Look up the listings for Clarksville and other areas, in and around Tennessee.

About Beth Robinson

Tennessee native. Computer Systems Analyst - 24+ year career in computer industry. BS, Computer Science, 1983 TTU. MA, Instructional Technology, 1999 APSU. Friends of Dunbar Cave. Audubon. Sierra Club. World Wildlife Fund. League of Conservation Voters. Active member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clarksville (UUFC). UU Service Committee. UUFC Social Action chairperson / Green Sanctuary chairperson / Youth group advisor.

Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/beth_robinson/

Email: beth_faith@hotmail.com

Sections: Opinion, Politics
Topics: Alternative Energy, Environment, EPA, Gas, Oil, Pollution

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