Levitra Online
If you’re like me, you’ve been too freaked out about the economy to pay much attention to anything this lame duck administration is doing; levitra online.But levitra online, the Bushies are still up to their dirty deeds and have bitch slapped the environment one last time.
There is a tradition in Washington, dating back to the Reagan era, that during the final months of an administration, the outgoing president signs sweeping regulations into law.Sometimes called midnight regulations, they support an administration’s philosophy. These regulations must be in place 60 days prior to the start of a new administration. As Veronique de Rugy said, in a November 21 article in The Los Angeles Times, “It’s your last chance…to extend your influence into the future.” Since these regulations are frequently opposed by the incoming administration, it’s also a last chance to stick it to the other party. Once in place, these regulations are very difficult for the new president to overturn.
The majority of the Bush regulations, or rather deregulations, give industry ‘friends’ the go-ahead to pour more poisons into the air and water; levitra online.In contrast, Obama has pledged to make energy and green technology a priority – levitra online.Good luck; levitra online.The Bushies have made it their last priority to trash the environment and made it extremely difficult to clean up their mess. You can almost hear the familiar snide chuckles as the deregulations go sailing through.
So, while we’ve been fretting about our 401K’s, the Bush administration has been busy handing out parting gifts to favored industries in the form of deregulations – a cascade of free passes which will gut our environment; levitra online. Levitra online: the list of deregulations is so long and hateful it seems vindictive and downright personal. There is no conceivable way anyone could say these deregulations are for the public good. This is the final finger to the public from a cynical administration.
We’re experiencing what deregulation and greed has done to the financial markets. Levitra online: now we can watch how further deregulating industry will deliver a death blow to our fragile eco-system.
What follows is a list of recent deregulations:
Factory pig, cow and chicken farms are exempt from the Clean Water Act as long as the companies say they aren’t dumping waste into streams and rivers.
Mountain-top mining operations will also be exempt from the Clean Water Act, allowing them to dump debris in rivers and lakes.
Limits will be eased on pollution from power plants and chemical factories, flaunting The Clean Air Act.The new anti-rule would allow an additional 70 million tons of CO2 to be released into the atmosphere every year.
Restrictions also will be eased so power plants can operate near national parks and wilderness areas.
The interior department can approve development, such as mining or logging, without consulting wildlife managers about the impact on the animals living in the area – levitra online. Levitra online: tedious, time-consuming consultation had been required.
BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE! What about the oceans? Check out the environmental impacts of fishery decisions. The rule would transfer the responsibility for examining the environmental impacts of federal ocean-management decisions from federal employees to advisory groups that represent regional fishing interests.The rule would also make it tougher for the public to participate in the environmental assessment process required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
Not all the regulations target the environment – levitra online.Some affect highway safety by allowing truckers to drive longer hours. Another affects families in crisis by changes to the Family Leave Act (Hey, rich people hire professionals to take care of sick family members, so what’s your problem?!) Still another weakens regulation of perchlorate in drinking water, a toxin in rocket fuel that can affect brain development in children, but, of course, everyone drinks bottled water, so what’s the fuss?
Now how’s all that for a brilliant sucker punch to our beautiful planet? Maybe not such a sucker punch after all, because we should have seen it coming.
Jan Bina, Blogger for In The Trenches Productions, the First Entertainment Website for Women Over 40