Is someone a socialist if they ask for clean water? Aren't they blocking business from being business? It comes as no surprise that the Bush administration would shy away from enforcing existing laws. At the state level, rather than coordinate, each state is terrified to enforce laws and then watch jobs run to the next state so they're willing to accept anything, regardless of how toxic or offensive the business may be. Being afraid of bathwater and teeth rotting from chemicals is not what anyone should tolerate in the US. NY Times:
In the last five years alone, chemical factories, manufacturing plants and other workplaces have violated water pollution laws more than half a million times. The violations range from failing to report emissions to dumping toxins at concentrations regulators say might contribute to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses.
However, the vast majority of those polluters have escaped punishment. State officials have repeatedly ignored obvious illegal dumping, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which can prosecute polluters when states fail to act, has often declined to intervene.
