Isn't it nice that the "evil" EPA made sure that there was a crystal-clear stream for

[zbdent]

Dick Cheney to fly-fish in? If people like him and the people who worship his like were in charge, you couldn't eat fish you catch ...

[wtmusic]

1. Nixon's EPA, to boot

When they make Tricky Dick look like a liberal you know they're nucking futs.

[mrcheerful]

2. Oh yeah its blame the EPA time. High gas prices? It's because the EPA

shut down oil refineries. Troubles with getting permits to build on wet lands or drill water wells, its blame the EPA for protecting the wet lands which ain't fair to the land owner and drives costs up. Loose your job over sea's. again Blame the EPA for restricting smoke stacks, stopping the dumping of toxic wastes, if we just let business clean up after itself they would see the problem and fix it themselves. Yet again we get people who didn't live before 1970 telling us just how wonderful life was before the EPA came along.

Ever notice when you talk about land, air and water quality before 1970 these dunder heads don't believe it was all that bad? I remember that the national sybol, the Bald Eagle went on the endangered spieces list because DDT caused birth defects in chicks or eggs wouldn't hatch. They didn't believe that schools dusted kids with DDT when there were out breaks of head lice in the school. They don't believe that dead fish were being washed up on beaches on all the lakes, rivers and sea's from the crap big business was dumping into the water supply. None of those things happened because big business is our friend and they wouldn't do that to america. The EPA made it all up to make it hard for business to do business at the expense of the working man.

[DCKit]

4. You're preaching to the choir, but your anger is misplaced.

The EPA as it is, serves the interests of the wealthy, whether they be corporate polluters or wealthy fly-fishermen who just happen to own, or have access to thousands of acres of pristine land in the west. But ONLY because the EPA hasn't been allowed to do their job and have been blocked at every turn by (especially) the current administration.

I haven't asked those I know who work for the EPA directly, but I don't need to: They're visibly PISSED and frustrated and they want their agency back, along with their government. None of the career employees in any government agency in my acquaintance will be voting for McSame in November. None of them became involved in their respective agencies in order to become wealthy and powerful; they took their jobs because they want to make a difference in our quality of life. The elected and political appointees, on the other hand....

[DCKit]

3. You shouldn't eat the fish you catch.

Nearly all the rivers, streams and lakes in the country are under advisories for various contaminants, especially mercury, from coal-fired power plants as well as all manner of industrial chemicals. I did an in-depth study about a year ago and found that most agencies involved recommend eating freshwater fish (from almost every U.S. body of water) no more than twice a month and none for pregnant women.

We have the technology to scrub the worst contaminants from smoke-stacks and the EPA, were they allowed to do their job, could clamp down on the polluters. However, corporate polluters own our elected representatives and they haven't stopped crying about how expensive it would be to do the right thing while dispensing their cash, so the administration - all administrations - gives them a pass and the Congress pretends not to notice the destruction of our environment.

When my grandfather was a boy in central PA, the Susquehanna river was so full of fish and eels that the poorest of the poor never had to do without a ready supply of clean, edible and healthy protein. Nixon's establishment of the EPA has given us nearly 40 years to restore the health of our freshwater systems, but the big money is only interested in profit. Ending pollution, though beneficial to every American, doesn't look good on the bottom line.

Corporate influence over our government needs to stop, and not only for environmental reasons. They're killing us in a hundred other ways too.