There’s a new scandal every day and Americans are quickly losing trust in all levels of elected officials and their appointed cronies. In this atmosphere, progressives need to be repeating a quote from former SCOTUS Justice Louis Brandeis: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
While this idiom may not technically be true (sunlight will not cleanse your kitchen tabletops or toilet seats), it is deeply meaningful. To protect us from corruption all we truly need is unfettered acces to see how our institutions work.
However even in the midst of stonewalling multiple investigations, the Bush administration has found time to limit public access to vital information even further. This time its the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Follow below the fold to find out what this is, why it matters and what you can do within five minutes to take action.
The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) is a detailed listing of toxic chemicals that companies release into our environment. For 20 years, it has given the public the right to know about pollution from industries in their communities. Environmental groups and activists have used this information to protect the public health of our communities and to challenge industrial companies that release the worst toxins into our environment.
The Bush Administration’s EPA has recently proposed a rollback of the Toxic Release Inventory.
Here are just a few of the recent articles and editorials about this issue from the
Seattle Post Intelligencer,
the Fort Worth Star Telegram,
and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
* Companies will only have to report every other year, as opposed to the current required annual reports.
* The minimum threshold to require reporting a chemical would be increased by 10 times!
* Reporting requirements are being reduced for the most dangerous toxic chemicals, such as lead and mercury.
If this rule change is approved it would make it harder for watchdog groups to know about dangerous pollution and health conditions, and it would make it easier for large industry to sweep harmful toxic contamination under the proverbial rug.
Contact the EPA before 12/05/05 to comment on these proposed rule changes.
Either write snail mail to :
Office of Environmental Information (OEI)
Docket ID No. TRI–2005–0073
Environmental Protection Agency
Mail Code: 28221T
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
or email:
oei.docket@epa.gov
with “Docket ID No. TRI–2005–0073” in the subject line of the email.
Here is a sample message (from the Clean Water Action website)
Please:
• Maintain annual reporting under TRI, and do not go to a once every two year system. It already takes too long for the public to find out about toxic emissions.
• Do not raise the threshold for reporting toxic chemical releases by 10 times.
• Maintain the current reporting requirements for persistent and bioaccumulative toxins.
I urge EPA to withdraw the proposals in Docket ID No. TRI–2005–0073. We need to know more about toxic chemicals we are exposed to, not less. TRI is a successful program that should not be dismantled.
Please keep me updated on this issue. Thank you.
