Post #352,251
12/22/11 10:26:55 AM
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EPA announcement of regulation of airborne mercury, etc.
http://www.mcclatchy...oric-rule-to.html
WASHINGTON Â Unveiling a historic rule, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced the first national requirement for the nation's coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic, cyanide and other toxic pollutants.
The landmark ruling took more than 20 years for EPA to finish. Under the Clean Air Act, many other sources of air pollution have been cleaned up, but power plants were so important to the economy that they long had a pass.
About 60 percent of the nation's plants, however, already comply with the new requirement because of state rules. The remaining 40 percent are a major source of pollution, producing more than half the mercury emissions in the country, the EPA said. The ruling will require coal-fired power plants to add pollution control equipment or close. Many plants already scheduled to close are 50 years or older.
EPA estimated that the new requirement will prevent as many as 11,000 deaths, 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 cases of childhood asthma each year.
This is a great victory for public health, especially for the health of our children," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in an announcement ceremony at Children's National Medical Center.
[...]
A good day.
As PK said today, elections have consequences. McCain (and Romney) obviously wouldn't have an EPA which would do such a thing - http://krugman.blogs...aning-of-mercury/ .
More is at LPJ's blog at the EPA - http://blog.epa.gov/.../cutting-mercury/
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #352,326
12/24/11 12:39:40 AM
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Now if they'll only do something about Roundup
If this is true, we're in a lot of trouble: (1 hour video)
http://www.youtube.c...ded&v=X4swW9OFmf8
"Internationally renowned natural health physician and Mercola.com founder Dr. Joseph Mercola interviews Dr. Don M. Huber, one of the senior scientists in the U.S about area of science that relates to genetically modified organisms (GMO). "
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Post #352,334
12/24/11 4:00:39 AM
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Re: EPA announcement of regulation of airborne mercury, etc.
Much more worthwhile than fucking about with regulations about phones in cars, don't you think?
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Post #352,340
12/24/11 10:42:01 AM
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Bah... what are you talking about?
Common Sense?
Hell, we haven't had any of that in Congress or politics or public policy in years... probably decades.
Never mind that millions of people are Drug addicts and that thousands if not hundreds of thousands of death are contributed to by the addictions.
I'm sure you can come up with some better reasoning that will be more superfluous and eye-candyish to be paid attention to.
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Post #352,361
12/24/11 5:53:02 PM
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Drugs is an easy, yet impossible answer
Legalise them. The whole shooting match, from pot to crack.
I fail to see how it could make things any worse.
Doing so would be a net win for all concerned; the government would yield tax revenue, the users wouldn't have to resort to criminal activity, the dealers wouldn't have any profits with which to buy guns with which to conduct driveby shootings.
Sure, some people would abuse their substance of choice, but hell; alcohol is legal, and we have evolved a set of laws to deal with it well enough (for some suitable value of "well enough").
I somehow doubt that the more rabid proponents of small government would like the bit that deals with prosecuting the war on drugs to be as small as, say, the social services.
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Post #352,362
12/24/11 7:11:12 PM
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actually
http://www.boortz.com/ is a rightwing shizzit stirrer who regularly talks about the benefits of legalizing all drugs.
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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Post #352,427
12/26/11 2:42:57 PM
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So he actually says something coherent every now and then
doesn't balance out the massive amounts of crap he spews.
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from."
-- E.L. Doctorow
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