Eugene Robinson: Defending Our Natural Resources From Presidents and Profits

[marmar]

from truthdig:



Defending Our Natural Resources From Presidents and Profits
By Eugene Robinson


In June of 1969, the stretch of the Cuyahoga River that runs through Cleveland was so polluted that it caught fire. Time magazine described the Cuyahoga this way: “Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows.”

The spectacle of a river in flames helped galvanize the environmental movement, and the following year, with Richard Nixon as president, the Environmental Protection Agency was established. In 1972, Congress passed the landmark Clean Water Act. Today, the Cuyahoga is clean enough to support more than 40 species of fish.

We still don’t know the full extent of the environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico—the impact on avian and aquatic life, on fisheries, on tourism, on the delicate ecology of coastal marshes and barrier islands. We do know, though, that it is the worst oil spill in our nation’s history, far surpassing the Exxon Valdez incident. And maybe the shocking images from the gulf of dead fish, oiled pelicans and shores lapped by viscous “brown mousse” will refocus attention on the need to preserve the environment, not just exploit it.

“Drill, baby, drill” isn’t just the bizarrely inappropriate chant that we remember from the Republican National Convention two years ago. It’s a pretty good indication of where the national ethos has drifted. Environmental regulation is seen as a bureaucratic imposition—not as an insurance policy against potential catastrophe, and certainly not as a moral imperative. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/defending_our_natural_resources_from_presidents_and_profits_20100527/

[DrDan]

1. " But as an environmentalist, let’s face it, he’s no Richard Nixon."

What a great line.

Love Gene Robinson.

[Demeter]

2. Ain't It the Truth

Never thought I'd be nostalgic for Nixon, but there it is.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.