markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. -Ansel Adams, photographer (20 Feb 1902-1984)

Mark

rdrechsler Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA

YES!

alx Loc: NJ

Frightening. Now more than ever.

charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.

Mark,
You have never more right.

Shel Loc: Lecanto FL

I agree wholeheartedly with what has been by Mark, alx, and Charles. In the US, subsidies for electric cars appear to be on their way out, while in China, they are up to $15,000 per car.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Not only did did Ansel “wuote” it, he actually thought it.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Agreed.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Perhaps even more true now than when Adams made the statement.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

Now Mr. President repeat after me ------
It's the PLANET STUPID !!!
And one last thought ---

Remember Sir -- We Don't SHIT in our ONLY NEST

DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

Things aren't just going yo hell at a Federal Level.

Michigan bills would let industry rule regulators




Residents living in Detroit, Dearborn, Flint and other urban and suburban communities are often left with the deck stacked against them simply because of where they live.

Auto insurers punish them with higher rates because of their education level, credit score, ZIP code and other redlining factors. Children go to aging schools in financially strapped school districts. The air quality is poor, and some question the purity of the water coming from the kitchen tap.

Metro Detroit, including parts of Dearborn - my home, and the state House District I represent - have some of the worst asthma rates in the Midwest. Families in some neighborhoods suffer from asthma at a rate twice the state average. We're part of what the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services calls the “epicenter” of its asthma burden.

In 2016, Newsweek magazine published a story on just how polluted the River Rouge, Ecorse, and Melvindale communities are, with 52 heavy industry sites located within three square miles. Those sites pump sulfur dioxide, soot and other toxins into our air, which damages our health and our livelihood.

The residents in these communities should not be left to fight these environmental battles alone. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) was meant to be their strongest ally. The agency should prevent big corporations from letting their waste harm our health. When those companies get out of line, it's the MDEQ's job to hold them accountable.

Instead, a pair of bills that were recently passed by the Michigan Senate would hamstring the agency and stands to let corporate polluters off the hook.Senate Bills 652 and 653 would create a governor-appointed appeals panel stacked with industry representatives with the power to override

permitting decisions and rule changes made by the MDEQ.

These bills would weaken an already toothless agency that is tasked with protecting our public health and natural resources. The MDEQ can't take into account the cumulativeeffect of multiple sources of pollution when it considers a permit, and so it approves most of the requests. Any belief that we have an overreaching and overzealous MDEQ is false. The MDEQ does not have the adequate authority it needs to protect the people of our state.

Our state is involved in at least two devastating environmental health crises: the ongoing Flint water crisis and the rampant asthma in many southeast Michigan communities. This is what happens when we have weak and ineffective environmental protections in place. It would be reckless and misguided to believe that the same corporations who contribute to the detriment of our public health would prioritize policies to protect our families over their pockets.

These bills are tantamount to the fox guarding the hen house. The losers of this misguided legislation would be the parents who want nothing more than the freedom to see their kids breathe free and easy, and the small businesses whose livelihoods depend on our “Pure Michigan” resources.

I urge my colleagues to abandon this illconceived, irresponsible, and dangerous legislation. We may not agree on everything, but we should agree that protecting our Great Lakes, our natural resources and our families are our top priority.

Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat from Dearborn, represents Michigan's 15th District in the state House.

The state Senate recently passed two bills that would hamstring the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Shel Loc: Lecanto FL

Why is it that when Industry wins, the people lose? The rich now pay less in taxes and Soc Sec and Medicare suffered severe funding cuts.

Wellhiem Loc: Sunny England.

I think we're using the wrong words. "Global warming" and "climate change" both sound pretty nice. We should call it "The Environmental Fuckalypse". There's little point highlighting the effects it will have on the weather in the future when pollution is killing people now. There are too many of us and we create way too much non-biodegradable waste.