Regarding the assault by Republicans on the environment.
There is a story often told among foreigners in Taiwan. It goes like this: a friend of mine returned home after 6 years. He went hiking with his Grandma. But he found that he was having trouble breathing and couldn't keep up. So he went to the doctor. The doctor took one look at the man's x-rays, shook his head, and said, "you really have to give up smoking."
My friend never smoked, he just lived in Taipei.
Taiwan is an emerging democracy. It's economy has made leaps and bounds, and the country has modernized quickly. Taipei, its capital, is a sprawling city of 3 million, and has one of the worst air quality records in the world.
Why? Because the government never regulated for the environment until very recently. Had our government not legislated for clean air and water, some of our cities might be in the same predicament. In comparison to Taipei, even LA seems nice.
The Republicans complain that regulations are hurting business. It's probably true! Business could no doubt make much more money if they didn't have to worry about make their cars with reduced emissions, if they could dump by-products wherever they felt like it, if they didn't have to test for the consumer safety.
But the government we should remember is not there for corporations. Our Constitution starts out with "We, the People...". Our government is there to says the Constitution, to "promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." I would argue that our "general Welfare" and the "Blessings of Liberty" includes living in a clean environment (As a side note though, the Constitution does not mention "government by and for the people," that was from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address).
If the Republicans would have us believe that the "Blessings of Liberty" mean that corporations should have free reign, then I invite them to visit Asia, to take a swim in a Chinese river, to breathe deep the air, and think again.
I, for one, would rather trust a slow and inefficient bureaucracy whose stated goal is to protect my general welfare. I don't trust the whims of a large corporation whose only goal is to make money, not to protect me, my welfare or my liberty.
If our government fails to carry out its stated goals, as the Republicans would have it do, then perhaps they should take an long hard look at the Declaration of Independence as well.