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U.S. De-Regulates Factory Farm Pollution
WASHINGTON - On the heels of a decision to allow factory farms to apply for permits to discharge waste into waterways, the Bush administration on Thursday exempted the industry from reporting hazardous air emissions to the federal government, prompting a consumer group to accuse the outgoing president of undoing years of environmental protections and "putting millions of Americans at risk."
Runoff from a factory farm
The
manure produced at factory farms, where tens of thousands of animals
are raised for food in congested facilities, accounts for 6 percent of
greehouse gas emissions in the United States, while 19 percent of all
U.S. emissions come from transportation, notes Food & Water Watch.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision has alarmed
climate and consumer rights activists alike because it lets
industrial-size farms refrain from disclosing the quantity of hazardous
substances -- notably the greenhouse gas methane -- emitted by animal
waste.
"Today's action by the Bush EPA is nothing more than a giveaway to big agribusiness at the expense of the public health and of local communities located near large factory farms," U.S. Representative John Dingell said, according to Pork Magazine, a business publication for professional pork producers.
According to his Web site, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's Environmental Protection Agency "will strictly regulate pollution from large CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations), with fines for those that violate tough standards."
Bush Administration Exempts Factory Farms From Regulation
Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director
From: Food & Water Watch
"The latest in a long list of midnight regulations released by the Bush Administration to undermine federal environmental standards is the Environmental Protection Agency's new rule, published today, that will let factory farms off the hook from reporting hazardous air emissions. This move to exempt confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) from reporting requirements sends a clear message that EPA is no longer interested in doing its job.
"Instead, EPA has put itself in the livestock industry's pocket after years of pressure to exempt factory farms from the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund) and the emissions reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA). While EPA did not completely shut the door on the air reporting requirements of CAFOs in this rule - since they will be required to report to state and local air health authorities - the agency will not be holding these factory farms accountable under federal environmental law for their air pollution emissions. Coupled with the self-certification process recently approved by EPA for CAFOs to apply for permits to discharge pollutants in waterways under the Clean Water Act, this rule today demonstrates EPA is walking away from its responsibilities to regulate pollution from CAFOs.
"Large confinement livestock operations can be significant sources of pollution affecting hundreds of communities all over the country. They emit toxic chemicals such as phosphorus, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide that can harm human health and cause hazardous air and water pollution. The reporting requirements of CERCLA and EPCRA provided the small but vital amount of information communities could access about the pollutants they were exposed to.
"This last-ditch effort by a lame-duck administration to undo years of environmental protections is putting millions of Americans at risk."
The rule can be viewed at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-30003.htm
10 Comments so far
Show AllThe world's friends: the meat and dairy industries.
Factory farms started as small farms.
You wont solve anything by rebooting to 1900 and letting it start all over again.
Water and crops will still be wasted and wildlife will still be attacked to protect the unnecessary diet of humans who choose to eat meat.
Go veg.
It's getting easier and easier to avoid all animal products when these Clear and Present dangers abound.
the mighty xzorloc eats tufu
i say tax all factory farm meat at the cost of the environmental degradation such meat produces to be eaten by gluttonous, mostly overweight americans. it's doing nothing for our health, for our wildlife, or for the environment.
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
--Albert Einstein, American physicist
A smaller human population without Wall Street gambling would not require factory farms.
When will we get tired of placing bandaids on problems and address the root of the problem, human overpopulation and wealth/power concentration? If anything good can come of it, maybe we will be forced to learn how to live sustainably on our mother earth.
yea, we need several remedies that's for sure. i agree especially about the wealth concentration which is only becoming more lopsided with each year that passes.
Perhaps it was somewhere in a large city, or a small town, perhaps upon a Reservation when an old Indian shrugged his shoulders when the people of European Heritage now talked about living in a sustatainable manner with mother earth?
Perhaps the old Indian wondered how his ancestors lived for 1000's & 1000's of years in land, simply with the earth, simply with each other, without the European schools, their money, or their forms of govt upon the earth?
The people of European Heritage had built what they called Colleges & Universities. They loved to boast about how smart they were. They even had little pieces of paper that said they were smart so they had to be smart because the little pieces of paper said they were smart.
A long time ago when the old Indian was a young Indian going to the European type schools to learn to be what they call, smart, in the grade they call the 7th in their pass & fail system the European type teachers began talking about something they called, The Future.
The old Indian then a young Indian chuckled because he knew these people didn't know the future at all & how bad things were going to become upon the earth & within their Nation.
A friend of European Heritage visited the old Indian the past weekend. They discussed many Native prophecies, the prophecies of the Israelites, & prophecies of other people, too. They discussed Jesus living with some Tribes in Turtle Island long before the Europeans ever arrived upon the shores. Some Tribes had prophecies of all 4 races even though none of the other races even knew the tribes were here.
The Hopi had a prophecy written long before the Europeans arrived about this land pretty much being burnt off the face of the earth by man made fire that the Hopi pretty much consider to be the modern day weapons invented & used in the 40's.
For human beings not to pretty much destroy themselves by their own hand either through modern day weapons or their destruction of the earth they pretty much would have had to have lived like the tribes used to live year in & year out.
The old Indian was astonished by a woman of European Heritage some 20 years back as in conversation he said to her, "Hunting, fishing, growing & gathering food, living simply with the earth, and being friends is pretty much all people ever needed to know."
He was astonished when she replied, "That's what it says in the Bible."
Of course then again Jesus's paradoxical name of animal symbology is the Lion of Judah as he was born of the Tribe of Judah. Who knows maybe he would have fit in well living with Tribal Communalists in this land as his disciples tried living as Communalists but were still in a money/mammon/golden calf worshipping society.
Jesus did tell his disciples after his resurrection that he had to leave them to go feed sheep in other lands before ascending back into the Kingdom. Hard to say where all he went, all those he taught, or even when? Wovoca, www.wovoca.com stated that Jesus left the dimension where he dwells and visited Wovaco in this dimension. Jesus was doing a little dimension hopping around.
This old Indian isn't worried about the environment at all as God stated in the Book of Revelation he is the destroyer of those who destroy the earth. When I talk to other people of Native Heritage or post at sites I tell them the truth that this is the world of the money money money men & that people around the planet are pretty much enslaved by money & the money money money men aren't going to stop anytime soon.
Life is good.
BUSH'S FINAL SELLOUTS
Still not satisfied with his unprecedented sellouts to special interests, this arrogant zealot is now concluding the final chapter of his destructive presidency by surging his war against our planet. Sadly, our congress has defaulted their duties by tolerating these abuses.
These final environmental crimes can be checked by expedient and persistent action from a concerned and motivated citizenry. This can be done--remember the 9/11 investigation that Bush so vehemently opposed while an intiminated congress balked. This happened only because of the perservence of the victim's relatives, albeit the inquiries were impaired by resistance from the Bush team.
The returning legislators, who had been complacent during these outrages, should be denied re-election.
Even as this departing SOB is going about attempting to rewrite the desecration of his eight years in office so history might look more kindly upon his sorry ass, behind the scenes it's business as usual which translates into anything and everything for business and if it can screw the environment and/or the working class then that's icing on the cake.
*Support your local organic family farmers.*
Also a war crime!