Good Neighbors

For the past week or so folks in the Northeast have been dealing with air pollution from the Ohio Valley--mainly from coal-fired power plants and industry.  Those of us with respiratory issues pay the price for this notion that what goes up will not come down--only it does. 

That is why it is so disappointing to learn that inspite of the best efforts of scientists, the courts and some regulators that this administration has favored the path that allows the pollution at the expense of Americans and our well-being.  Study after study has shown that health impacts of bad air are much larger that what corporations would have to pay to clean up their acts.  The technology is there to fix this mess.  The people would love to have clean air.  Yet time after time the administration has changed the findings of reports, bullied legitimate scientists and seriously compromised our health in the process.

Perhaps we will see some traction on this in next four years.  Maybe the EPA will once again return to looking after our health and well-being.  And we might even see the President's Council on Environmental Quality do something other than fight for the rights of corportations to pollute.  And maybe some of us will be able to breathe better on a sunny summer day.