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EPA decision
Jun. 29th, 2015 11:04 amI'm yelling a big NOOOO! right now.
I know I've told this story before, but...
In 1967, my family moved to London. My mother has said that one of the things she wanted to see hadn't been possible: one of London's famous pea-soup fogs.
The last one was in 1962. Ten years earlier in December of 1952 a pea-soup fog covered London for four days. Twelve thousand people -- elderly, some children, other vulnerable populations -- died. They died from breathing the air.
In 1956, Parliament passed the Clean Air Act, and I as a child got to reap the benefits, even if it disappointed my mother.
While we were living there, the Clean Water Act was passed. It was assumed to take 100 years before the Thames could support fish again. When I went back to live in London, in 1982, tiny whitebait fish were being caught in the river. I wouldn't have eaten them, but by the 21st Century a whale was actually able to survive in the Thames for a few days.
The US clean air and water acts were passed a bit later. We waited for a river to catch fire before we thought, "eh, maybe it's time to look at pollutants." One of the key agents of change was the EPA -- created by a Republican president (thank you, Richard Nixon (not a phrase heard often)) -- which was able to regulate and enforce.
I don't want to go back to those days. Thanks to several bouts of pneumonia, I have weak lungs. But even if it weren't for the self interest, I don't want to go back.
This is wrong, and I don't know how to fight it.
I know I've told this story before, but...
In 1967, my family moved to London. My mother has said that one of the things she wanted to see hadn't been possible: one of London's famous pea-soup fogs.
The last one was in 1962. Ten years earlier in December of 1952 a pea-soup fog covered London for four days. Twelve thousand people -- elderly, some children, other vulnerable populations -- died. They died from breathing the air.
In 1956, Parliament passed the Clean Air Act, and I as a child got to reap the benefits, even if it disappointed my mother.
While we were living there, the Clean Water Act was passed. It was assumed to take 100 years before the Thames could support fish again. When I went back to live in London, in 1982, tiny whitebait fish were being caught in the river. I wouldn't have eaten them, but by the 21st Century a whale was actually able to survive in the Thames for a few days.
The US clean air and water acts were passed a bit later. We waited for a river to catch fire before we thought, "eh, maybe it's time to look at pollutants." One of the key agents of change was the EPA -- created by a Republican president (thank you, Richard Nixon (not a phrase heard often)) -- which was able to regulate and enforce.
I don't want to go back to those days. Thanks to several bouts of pneumonia, I have weak lungs. But even if it weren't for the self interest, I don't want to go back.
This is wrong, and I don't know how to fight it.
