No, no, I am not talking about my husband. I am talking about Obama.
He is now risking the health of American's in the name of looking the other way while corporations harm the environment. http://news.yahoo.com/obama-halts-controversial-epa-regulation-143731156.html
"A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, had muted praise for the White House, saying that withdrawal of the smog regulation was a good first step toward removing obstacles that are blocking business growth."
It is also a bad step in removing smog from our air. Which is more important?
First off I understand that none of this is simple. And government regulations absolutely can be crippling to business. But on the other hand, giving carte blanche to businesses by not making them run their factories more energy-efficiently and cutting down on the pollution put into our air is also crippling ... to the planet. Which kinda sorta means....us.
What would happen in a perfect world is that greed would be removed from the equation and therefore companies wouldn't be concerned with making money, but instead, of making products that people need. And they would do that with regard to other things, like employees (you know, as in keeping them) and the environment. They wouldn't pollute, they wouldn't bury their cancer-causing aftershit into people's backyards and so on. But there is no perfect world, so therefore there has to be regulation. And that regulation comes from government. And the people who cry the loudest that they HATE and abhor regulation are the ones who are committing crimes of nature and don't want to be held responsible for it on ANY level.
So we ended up with a president who has been trying to master the art of compromise in order to get ANY thing done. Which of course is constantly met with cries of Obama sucks. I personally think that people, overall, suck. I certainly wouldn't be so hasty to blame the problems of the world on ONE single person. That is just ridiculous. And stupid. Which is what is basically the platform one must operate from in order to manage those that are. Both stupid and ridiculous.
"The withdrawal of the proposed EPA rule comes three days after the White House identified seven such regulations that it said would cost private business at least $1 billion each. The proposed smog standard was estimated to cost anywhere between $19 billion and $90 billion, depending on how strict it would be.
"Republican lawmakers have blamed what they see as excessive regulations backed by the Obama administration for some of the country's economic woes, and House Republicans pledged this week to try to block four environmental regulations, including the one on some pollution standards, when they return after Labor Day.
"But perhaps more than some of the other regulations under attack, the ground-level ozone standard is most closely associated with public health — something the president said he wouldn't compromise in his regulatory review. Ozone is the main ingredient in smog, which is a powerful lung irritant that occasionally forces cancellation of school recesses, and causes asthma and other lung ailments.
Criticism from environmentalists, a core Obama constituency, was swift following the White House announcement.
"The Obama administration is caving to big polluters at the expense of protecting the air we breathe," said Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters. "This is a huge win for corporate polluters and huge loss for public health."
"In his statement, the president said that withdrawing the regulation did not reflect a weakening of his commitment to protecting public health and the environment.
"I will continue to stand with the hardworking men and women at the EPA as they strive every day to hold polluters accountable and protect our families from harmful pollution," he said.
So in essence, what happens is that government creates agencies to police certain sectors. The EPA is designated to regulate the environment. They then do their jobs, but then the government machine, which doesn't want to HEAR bad news, does everything in its power to avoid said bad news. So exactly how would this system EVER work, I ask. Presidents can overrule their agency recommendations, and that is what happens.
The decision mirrors one made by Obama's predecessor, President George W. Bush. EPA scientists had recommended a stricter standard to better protect public health. Bush personally intervened after hearing complaints from electric utilities and other affected industries. His EPA set a standard of 75 parts per billion, stricter than one adopted in 1997, but not as strong as federal scientists said was needed to protect public health.
The EPA under Obama proposed in January 2010 a range for the concentration of ground-level ozone allowed in the air — from 60 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion. That's about equal to a single tennis ball in an Olympic-size swimming pool full of tennis balls.
Jackson, Obama's environmental chief, , said at the time that "using the best science to strengthen these standards is a long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier."
So if the president said that withdrawing the regulation did not reflect a weakening of his commitment to protecting public health and the environment ... then what is it, exactly?
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