If you as a reader were to spend time with me offline you would learn in a matter of seconds, I am a tree hugging liberal. This week to hear that President Obama negated the EPA's attempt to provide clean air for future generations hurt. It was a kick in the stomach. It was the quintessential WTF move for a president elected on change. I am sure several other "where's the change" moments can be noted but for now I focus on the EPA ruling.
I could almost see the head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson, throwing her hands up in the air and asking WRF?!?! She has spent over 18 months working hard to promote an understanding of the Clean Air Act only to be toppled by the unfounded notion that the act would derail jobs.
How, I would like to know would jobs be killed by regulation? Regulation of industry in America would create jobs. Corporations would be forced to hire or to train workers to implement the changes required by the legislation. Training people for new technology equates to jobs for those training. The advent of the automobile was the herald of the end of the horse and buggy. Many people in the horse and buggy industry lost their jobs. I now ask, who amongst us is lamenting the end of the horse and buggy? And why? The end of the horse and buggy created not only direct jobs in the auto manufacturing but also indirect jobs in highway construction, glass manufacturing, law enforcement, etc...
I am a tree hugging liberal and not ashamed of hugging trees or of being a liberal. My goal is to leave this planet better than what I found it. My 14 year old turn to me,yesterday, and said, "I am tired of all of this severe weather." I could not assure him that things would get better. I could only explain to him the importance of his generation being better stewards of the land than mine. I went on to let him know that if we do not do something now we are not guaranteed a future 10 years from now without devastating monthly weather events.
While many pro-industry scientist like to point out how climate change has always occurred on the planet, they fail to mention how humans have been able to adapt to such changes. What we are seeing now is climate change on crack. We are the crack dealers and need to accept responsibility for the crack head monster we have created. Yes, we have always had climate change on this planet, yet we have been able to have the time to evolve with the climate change. Our misuse of the environment has increased the speed of the climate change without allowing time for us to adjust to the climate changes we are seeing. We are killing ourselves just to make a dollar.
Please become aware of how we are impacting our planet. Insist that instead of supporting corporations that are killing our planet our government(s) invest in technology that will allow us to have comfort while living in peace with nature. Example: Instead of funding a war filled with contractors in the Near East, we need to fully fund NASA's space exploration. Maybe we will find a planet of water/ice before we run out of potable water on this planet (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9796321). Support those protesting the tarsands. They are being arrested daily. Send bail money. We must take care of our nation. If we do not we will find ourselves with as much potable water as India or China.
Links:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/7309/chemical_industry_regulation_would_create_not_kill_jobs/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/21/regulations-and-growth-linked_n_930653.html
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/cantor-jobs-memo-calls-for-repeal-of-health-enviro-labor-rules----and-tax-cuts.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/28/climatechange.emissionstrading
http://www.gits4u.com/envo/envo4.htm
http://www.econ.yale.edu/~srinivas/C&I%20Economic%20Performance%20Update.pdf
http://bit.ly/pXNtz0
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/
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