On the anniversary of the "Clean Air Act"

This week, most people won't know, is the anniversary of the "Clean Air Act" by Congress, in Washington, of 1990. It turns 21 years old, thank goodness. As we know, our air in the 1960's, at least, had gotten pretty fouled and dirty and awful and we needed to do something about it--we needed to clean it up. So clean it up we did, thank goodness. And, as it turns out, the Act did help us clean our air, some, anyway, and set us on a good, intelligent, healthier and far more sustainable path. Sure, we need to do more about our air and cleaning it and it will have to come from partnerships with corporations but some of those companies have found that clean air is not only in their best interests but that it can also help create both more business for them as well as new technologies and jobs. We need to develop more in this arena--we need to create yet more, "greener" and cleaner technologies and capabilities, including and especially solar power, particularly photovoltaic cells that create our electricity. So in this week that we say "Happy birthday!" to the Clean Air Act of 1990, I am reminded of Oliver in the Charles Dickens story and later, movie and can only tell the US Congress the following: Unfortunately, too many in Congress now think there's too much "regulation". (http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/11/16/7399/5-questions-william-ruckelshaus?utm_source=iwatch&utm_medium=social_media&utm_campaign=facebook). All I can say is, we don't want to end up like polluted China. Let's not go backward. Let's keep cleaner air and progressing forward. Link: http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/11/16/370028/happy-birthday-clean-air-act-jobs-innovation-saving-lives/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29

Clean air, Congress, Corporations and you--guess who's losing?

Next week, it's being reported, the Senate may gut any new, effective regulations coming from the EPA regarding the Clean Air Act.

This comes about because Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) slipped an amendment into law:

"Majority Leader Harry Reid has allowed the polluting industries, represented by Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, to advance a vote on whether to block the EPA from taking any steps to enforce its recent ruling that global warming gases endanger public health. Murkowski may propose either a one-year block or something more permanent, depending on her assessment of the vote count this year and after the November elections."

So just when this Congress is looking to roll on with legislation that will protect the polluting corporations, with their money and lobbyists, check out what just came across the wire from the Associated Press:

"Schools in parts of Utah kept students inside for sports and recess Tuesday after soaring pollution levels prompted state health warnings on driving and outdoor activity."

"For the third straight day, AIRNow, a national index for reporting daily air quality, ranked portions of Utah as having the most polluted air in the country..."

And keep in mind, this is Utah, folks. We're not talking the "dirty Northeast" part of the United States. This should be clean air, open West, mountain country clean air Utah.

Yeah, Congress people, keep protecting those corporations--at the expense of your constituents.

Could there be a more obvious need to work for clean air than that Utah, of all places--formerly presumed to be squeaky clean Utah--has to keep their kids indoors at school during recess?

What do we have to hit these people over the head with, to get them to see and admit the obvious?