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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 26. 2019 - PAGE 5A
Opinions
We have entered the era of fox and chickens regulation
Dear Editor:
The Dec. 6 issue of
“Science” opens with an
editorial that is especial
ly timely given the health
threat posed by the Colbert
power plant. (“Science” is
the journal of the American
Academy for the Advance
ment of Science.) It helps
to answer a question I’ve
heard frequently during the
last few weeks, “Why does
the Environmental Protec
tion Agency (EPA) or the
Georgia Environmental
Protection Division allow
them to bum railroad ties?”
The burning of cre
osote-treated, railroad
crossties here in Madison
County is not just a local
aberration. It is represen
tative of policies that now
affect all Americans, and
the cancerous growth of
these policies continues
each day. Skipping a page
of details, the editorial con
cludes with, “The EPA’s
proposed transparency rule
does not ensure research
rigor or improve transpar
ency. It unquestionably
excludes key science from
policy-making.” When the
EPA’s political bureaucracy
promotes rales to silence
its health scientists for the
purpose of increasing cor
porate profits, it is time to
take a hard look at what has
gone wrong.
Recent decades have seen
dramatic changes in the
way we regulate industries
that affect our health. We
have entered the era of fox
and chickens regulation.
Chicken processing plants
hire their own meat inspec
tors, drag manufacturers
conduct their own clinical
trials, and industries that
profit from burning cross
ties provide the EPA with
the data needed for regulat
ing power plants. The EPA
conveniently reacts by end
ing its prohibition against
burning crossties.
The exclusion of science
from policy has a long his
tory of slow, but steady,
progression. Part of the sto
ry begins in the 1950s and
60s. The tobacco industry
was our country’s largest
spender on lobbying and
elections. However, the
time came when smoking
was so obviously bad for
our health that even poli
ticians could no longer be
bought. The tobacco in
dustry stopped spending on
lobbying, but it didn’t stop
spending. It began financ
ing think-tanks and other
organizations devoted to
persuading voters that all
federal government reg
ulation is bad. Attacking
regulation in general, with
out mentioning smoking,
worked. Since then, at
tempts by health officials to
curtail smoking have been
consistently derailed. For
example, an effort to re
quire cigarette manufactur
ers to include more graphic
warnings on their packag
ing was a done deal as far
as the Food and Drag Ad
ministration was concerned
— and then it wasn’t. The
extraordinary success of
the tobacco industry’s cam
paign, with its strategy of
attacking all regulation, has
caused a lot of collateral
damage.
Today, we must remem
ber what the air quality of
our major cities was like
when the EPA was cre
ated. We must remember
the time when rivers in our
major cities were so pollut
ed they sometimes caught
fire. We must take note of
the fact that our neighbor
ing power plant is being
managed by the multina
tional corporation that ran
the Flint, Michigan water
system. That corporation,
Veolia, was aware of the
imminent danger of lead
poisoning before it oc
curred — silently aware.
Remembering these
things reveals a lesson for
us in our troubles with the
Colbert power plant. We
must resist politicians who
court our vote by promising
to dismantle the EPA. EPA
regulations do not put us at
a competitive disadvantage.
The European Union’s EPA
is much stricter with no ev
idence of economic harm.
(For example, it prohibits
burning crossties in power
plants.)
This January, the EPA’s
political bureaucracy will
release a supplemental rale
to their proposed transpar
ency rale. There will be
an open period for public
comment — an opportuni
ty for everyone to tell the
EPA to return to using the
best science to protect our
health and the environment.
Sincerely,
David Vogel
Richards continued from 4A
About Mainstreet Newspapers
Deliveries and subscriptions
good thing, since they are
all much bigger than her).
She’s not quite sure about
Sampson and Henry (the
goats) but she’ll come
around.
I most always have a
tough time this time of
year, for a lot of reasons,
but my husband’s love for
me and earning the love
and trust of Lulu has done
a lot to lift my spirits this
time around.
Pets are family. And no
one can replace Joe for he
was a unique little soul,
but Lulu is busy filling her
own space in my heart (and
Charles’s) and in our home.
MOAS has many pets
just as deserving as little
Lulu who are waiting for
someone to give them a
home and a family. Dogs
and cats are companion an
imals and they depend on
us to give them what they
need.
But that giving is not a
one-way street, for every
thing that we give, we get
so much more. If you can
open your home to a pet
(or another pet) during this
season of giving, please
consider adopting from the
shelter. It’s a great feeling
to save a life and give an
innocent creature the safety
and security that these pre
cious souls deserve. And
the rewards are many.
There is so much to learn
from them - love, patience,
kindness, trust and devo
tion, to name a few.
I promise you, you’ll re
ceive so much more than
you give.
Merry Christmas from
me and Lulu.
Margie is a reporter and
office manager for The
Madison County Journal.
She can be reached at mar-
gie@ mainstreetnews. com.
The five MainStreet
Newspapers publica
tions — The Madison
County Journal, The
Jackson Herald, The Bra-
selton News, The Barrow
News-Journal and The
Banks County News —
are printed and delivered
once a week.
•About delivery: The
newspapers are deliv
ered to the post office
and, from there, to sub
scribers’ post office box
es or home mailboxes.
The newspapers do not
have “paper boxes” at
people’s homes and are
not delivered by carriers.
However, the papers are
delivered to newspaper
vending machines in vari
ous locations across Mad
ison, Jackson, Barrow
and Banks counties.
•About subscriptions:
Subscribers are sent a re
newal notice before their
subscription runs out. A
quick way to check to see
when a subscription ends
is to look for the expira
tion date on the mailing
label.
For more information
on the above items, or
for other details about
the newspapers, call The
Madison County Journal
at 800-795-2581; The
Jackson Herald at 706-
367-5233; The Braselton
News at 706-367-5233;
The Banks County News
at 706-612-5327; or The
Barrow News-Journal at
770-867-6397.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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1080 Oj Johnson Rd.
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60 Industrial Boulevard
Nahunta, GA 31553
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