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With Media, Americans Focused on Debt Drama, Congress Attacks Environment
It’s tough getting any news out of Washington these days that doesn’t involve the debt ceiling. Understandably, the political firestorm that has led our country to the brink of financial default has dominated headlines.
While you’re hopefully off enjoying the Great Outdoors this weekend, House Republicans will be pushing legislation that promises to destroy it.
With Washington and the world focused on the debt ceiling drama, hard-right House Republicans have launched the biggest congressional assault on the environment in history, attacking our fundamental environmental and public health protections in order to appease Tea Party ideologues and big business donors.
Weekends also find fewer Americans paying attention to what's happening in Washington. And this weekend, the GOP-led House will take an unusual step and remain in session so they can take up more of the nearly 40 anti-environmental “riders” Republicans have attached to the Interior/EPA appropriations bill.
While you’re hopefully off enjoying the Great Outdoors, House Republicans will be pushing legislation that promises to destroy it.
Under GOP plans, coal mines will be able to dump more debris in our rivers and streams. Power plants and cement kilns will be able to pump more pollution into our air. And lands near the Grand Canyon could be opened for uranium mining.
Fortunately, the media is beginning to realize the unprecedented damage these anti-environmental riders could do to our environment and to America as we know it.
Leslie Kaufman of The New York Times picked up on the story Thursday.
“With the nation’s attention diverted by the drama over the debt ceiling, Republicans in the House of Representatives are loading up an appropriations bill 39 ways — and counting — to significantly curtail environmental regulation,” she points out.
The Washington Post’s Darryl Fears and Juliet Eilperin meanwhile, just logged in here.
In the Grand Canyon State, the Arizona Republic weighed in with one of the best editorials I’ve seen on what’s at stake.
“This bill does much more than just spread the pain of inevitable budget cuts,” the Republic writes. “It imposes changes that will undo things the American people want done. This is at odds with this nation's commitment to preserving its astonishingly rich natural heritage.”
In Ohio, where the Cuyahoga River once caught on fire before we had the Clean Water Act that we (at least for now) still have, the Toledo Blade has describes the state of our the environment and our public health simply but succinctly: “Under Seige”
The debt ceiling and the separate deficit debate will likely be front page news for a while. Rightfully so.
But it’s important to look behind the top headlines of the day to see what our elected officials are doing when our attention is diverted.
Fortunately, the press is starting to make it clear what out-of-touch House members are doing to our environment and public health protections.
Hopefully, we’ll all pay attention.
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11 Comments so far
Show AllI didn't see the article on the NYTimes, but I did see a good one by Krugman about how the media is choosing to call the far right's positions "the middle ground".
I just don't understand the stupidity of the Tea Baggers. They think regulations against any criminal corporation is bad. How many of rebuplicans are miners, or live next to toxic waste pits? I see many in favor of the tar sands pipeline or the destructions of mountains. Or in favor of fracking that destroy their watwr. I just do not understand stupid people.
They are positioned to sell you expensive imported water from Paraquay when your domestic supply is corrupted.
Don't these neo-con, reich-wing, teabagger nutcases need air and water to survive???? Are they really alien robots??
Calling the people who would seek to destroy what is left of Mother Earth for their own self-agrandizement (and that of their corpora-fascist and bankster owners)
"out-of-touch" is lame. Call them what they are: greedy, arrogant, ignorant sociopaths.
What a bunch of stupid fucking idiots! They want to poison us ALL!! And they are doing it FOR THE MONEY!!! What the hell is wrong with these republicanazi jackasses?? Will they not stop until they let the "free market" i.e., rich bastards, destroy the entire planet? Do they want to push the rest of us so far so they can have an excuse to turn our own military against we the people, or will they use armed corporate mercenaries?
We need the oal to stop them communists, abortionists, libruls and sand negrs from taking over the good ol' USA and turnin it into a calaphate
Give some credit to Obama the environmentalist for turning off the radiation detectors that could tell Americans how much radiation was coming from Fukushima. This helps Americans to not be afraid of radiation and to, as well, have a more positive feeling about nuclear reactors Obama wants built.
Th debt ceiling crisis is a manufactured crisis in conjunction with D.C. and the MSM. With almost every single politician owing their political success to a handful of corporate donors, you can bet the farm that the ceiling will be raised before the deadline. Once the 'imminent catastrophe' has been avoided, both Obama and House Republicans will claim credit for compromising in a bipartisan bill while avoiding a government default.
Meanwhile corporate America wins with the usual increases in military spending, less environmental regulation, further tax cuts for the rich and the dismantling of the last vestiges of America's social safety net all in the name of the economy. As the latest move pushes the majority of the population to the brink of poverty, the voting public will continue to oscillate between the right wing Democrats and the very right wing Republicans to the delight of our billionaire class. The pattern has been the same for years except for the noticeable rate of acceleration to impoverish the bloodied and weakened middle class.
I happened to be watching C=span with my mother( I kind of usurp her TV so she can listen and learn) We were hearing the attack on environment regs ..... I 'm glad I put it on so she could hear it...
If only conniving Republicans and Democrats could show the same energy and enthusiasm that they put into questioning the growing budget deficit, into questioning why so much money is wasted on warmonger contractors, and into questioning the wisdom of removing the last government agency defences against environmental devastation. The US imperial wars are a huge money scam, and will die with us. Removal of enviromental restrictions allows our civilisation to kill itself more quickly by speeding up the general biocide.
In terms of an operating system, or a living being, the safeties are being taken off, because the system is already in dire stress, because of energy and money constraints being felt by the most hungry corporations. What a stupid shame that the government is the major source of the money contraints, and wants to spend principally on the causes of death, instead of what helps to promote life.