Report: More factory farming but oversight lags (GAO)

[underpants]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some huge livestock farms produce more raw waste than cities as large as Philadelphia or Houston. But federal regulators are failing to control pollution from the gigantic operations or assess health risks from the enormous quantities of manure they produce, according to congressional investigators.

The Government Accountability Office report on the raw waste is to be released Wednesday to a House committee hearing on federal oversight of factory farms.

The conclusions fueled concerns about a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule change that would eliminate one of the few federal oversight mechanisms over air and water pollution from big farms.

"This GAO study confirms that the Bush administration's plan to exempt industrial-sized animal feeding operations from emissions reporting requirements is nothing more than a favor to big agribusiness," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gdDdJvrh2hGb5mQ3Fbz6UHrx-gewD93CRQVG0

[pattmarty]

1. This is just ONE ot the 10,623 problems the Republicans..........

.....have left the country that the Dems will have to fix.

[Bigmack]

2. Regulations... Regulations....

Wee don need no steeenken regulations.

At least, not until some horrible disease/poison leaks into the food supply and creates a major crisis. Then we can bail out the corporate farms.

[underpants]

3. pfft like what are the odds of something like THAT happening?

As China milk scandal grows, leadership escapes blame

3 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — As China's tainted milk scandal rumbled on Wednesday, there were few signs people were willing to blame the nation's top leadership despite evidence the health risks were covered up for months.

Whether because of traditional deference to Beijing or clever state media management, public anger was directed more at second- and third-tier officials at the local level.

Premier Wen Jiabao, in contrast, received kudos for visiting children's hospitals and hugging babies sickened by tainted milk powder.

"We should never try to pursue corporate profit or economic growth at the expense of health and life of people," Wen told an audience in New York during a visit to the UN General Assembly, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

China has said 53,000 children have been sickened by milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, which is normally used to make plastics.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iCQFgtK5OTblOceDxmbdN7BcRguQ

[SpiralHawk]

4. Why do republicons HATE clean food and water?

Why do republicons love corporate profit, but hate America and Americans?