EPA

The Democratic victory in November has already yielded some very important things. First, Rumsfeld fled the scene faster than you can say "Congressional investigation." The Mainstream media, realizing that Democrats largely won because people are sick of the war and the lies surrounding the war, have finally recognized that Iraq is in the midst of a Civil War largely due to Bush's incompetence.

Now, the Republican campaign to poison America has receieved a set back thanks to the Democratic victory. The EPA is abandoning part of Bush's plan to let polluters poison Americans at will. From Salon.com:

The Bush administration, looking at the prospect of stronger oversight from a Democratic-led Congress, is withdrawing a proposal to let big polluters report less often on what they spew from their smokestacks.

The administration, however, is going ahead with a plan to make one-third less provide detailed figures at all.

The government last year proposed easing air regulations to exempt some companies from having to tell the Environmental Protection Agency about what it considers to be small releases of toxic pollutants.

That proposal is still alive. But abandoned now is the idea of making companies that must make such reports, known as toxic release inventory, do so every other year instead of annually.

Some believe that one contributing factor to the decline of the Roman Empire was the fact that they used lead pipes for drinking water. Chronic lead poisoning, it is argued, sapped the Romans of their health and intelligence, contributing to their decline.

I personally think this is an unlikely scenario...but, in an Empire known for its extensive public water system, it is possible. But one thing is indeed clear, poisons like lead and arsenic in drinking water are a major health hazard. And this health hazard is one part of the Republican poisoning of America.

This is another one of my pet issues: the ongoing poisoning of American by Republican policies. This is not an accidental thing. It is a byproduct of intentional deregulation, intentionally ignoring clear warning signs of health problems, and allowing companies and utilities to circumvent environmental regulations. Sometimes it is very specific: Bush ordering the EPA to lie about the toxicity of the World Trade Center smoke plume, thus poisoning thousands of New Yorkers, particularly first responders, leading to a syndrome known as "Ground Zero Cough" which has struck New York's rescue workers or Conrad Burns (A Montana Republican now happily ousted from the Senate by Jon Tester, a populist organic farmer) advocating testing pesticides on humans. Other times it is a more general increase in dangerous pollutants thanks to Republican blind faith in deregulation. But there is now a clear pattern of Republican policies threatening the health of Americans through our air, drinking water and soil.