Forum of Idiocy #2

These so-called candidates would, as I said, also abolish the EPA. Think about that. This is a Republican initiated program started by Richard Nixon. Since its inception, air quality across the country has improved dramatically. Particulate matter has been reduced by a great amount. Tens of thousands of people, mostly elderly, the very young and those with compromised immune systems, would have died sooner rather than later were it not for these pollution regulations.

Additionally, water quality has shown steady improvement since the EPA was founded. Rivers that were toxic and flammable are now largely capable of sustaining aquatic life and even in Lake Erie, where in the 60s and 70s it was completely unsafe for human contact, people can now safely swim and boat with out fear of chemical burns, infection from untreated sewage and other fun holiday benefits. Upsate NY saw one of the worst sites in the country, the Love Canal. Tens of thousands of toxic waste was dumped in the canal over the years instead of being properly disposed of. Unborn kids dying in utero, kids with cancers and leukemia, forced evacuations of entire neighborhoods.

Gas mileage standards substantially decreased our dependence on foreign oil and will continue to do so so long as the bar continues to be raised. These standards were a big part of reducing air pollution and preventing people from early deaths.

Acid rain has been greatly reduced. This was largely a by-product of dirty coal burning power plants in the west and mid-west that discharged chemicals into the air which floated eastward. When mixed with precipitation, the resulting rain was more acidic than tomato juice. This resulted in damage to forests, sterilization of lakes in upstate NY due to the fact that the water was too acidic to support life. This result carried into lakes as far away as Scandinavia.

Now think about abolishing the agency. It was created to address problems of people dying, children getting horrendous diseases from industrial dumps, killing of the elderly with poisoned air, keeping us dependent on foreign oil, often from our so-called "allies" that supported the 9/11 terrorists with money from our oil purchases. And these dopes want to abolish the EPA?

More on these extremist right-wing demagogues tomorrow.