M
mryan
Guest
I, for one, can assure you that I will not be voting for Bush come the fall. What I can assure you is that I will be voting for someone else. Since Nader does not have snowball's chance in hell of winning--therefore a vote for him is a wasted one--I will be voting for Kerry. Why? Well, there are many reasons to do with the war, the economy, foreign and domestic policy; you know, all the regular stuff.
What really gets my goat? Bush's environmental policies. Simply put, Republicans, under their brand of ideology, seek to solve the 'environmental problem' by relying on market-based solutions. In the context of industrial pollution, this means deregulation and therefore a slow abolishment of the command and control system of pollution control first created with the landmark environmental laws(Clean Air Act, NEPA, Clean Water Act, etc.) passed in the early seventies. They seek to strip away rules and create a system(a market) in which it is in the financial interest of companies to reduce pollution and/or install less-polluting equipment and/or institute more efficient, less-polluting methods. This, folks, simply does not work.
And pay attention to the opening of public lands to industry. There was a time when any such development within public lands had to undergo a rigorous review process as prescribed by law. Included in this was what was known as an Environmental Assessment in which the impacts, both negative and positive, of a proposed development would be documented. Then the public was given a chance to comment on the Environmental Assessment, which is published for the public to view in the federal register. This is no longer the case. Companies--oil drillers, timber companies, etc.--are being allowed to exploit these lands with little or no review. In short, the laws that have for decades protected our lands are being stripped.
What do you think?[/b]
What really gets my goat? Bush's environmental policies. Simply put, Republicans, under their brand of ideology, seek to solve the 'environmental problem' by relying on market-based solutions. In the context of industrial pollution, this means deregulation and therefore a slow abolishment of the command and control system of pollution control first created with the landmark environmental laws(Clean Air Act, NEPA, Clean Water Act, etc.) passed in the early seventies. They seek to strip away rules and create a system(a market) in which it is in the financial interest of companies to reduce pollution and/or install less-polluting equipment and/or institute more efficient, less-polluting methods. This, folks, simply does not work.
And pay attention to the opening of public lands to industry. There was a time when any such development within public lands had to undergo a rigorous review process as prescribed by law. Included in this was what was known as an Environmental Assessment in which the impacts, both negative and positive, of a proposed development would be documented. Then the public was given a chance to comment on the Environmental Assessment, which is published for the public to view in the federal register. This is no longer the case. Companies--oil drillers, timber companies, etc.--are being allowed to exploit these lands with little or no review. In short, the laws that have for decades protected our lands are being stripped.
What do you think?[/b]
