In all of the discussion and pontificating about the nuclear option and the level of Bill Frist's pandering to the out-of-their-damned-minds right, a major victory for progressives has been lost in the mix.
For the past year and a half, one of the most important fights in the environmental movement has been to stop the EPA's so called "blending" policy. Basically think of it like this: A sewage plant has two stages, the first stage is a big strainer, and it pulls out the lumps of raw shit. The second stage cleans what is left, that filthy, disgusting goo that goes through your sewage system. Under the proposed EPA policy, sewage system wouldn't have to do that second stage before firing sewage discharge into our rivers on any day it rained. Just think, in someplace like Detroit, where about a third of days see some sort of precipitation, raw shit would be fired into the drinking water source. Tasty.
But luckily, progressives got organized and got nearly 100,000 letter to the EPA to say no to eating shit. And EPA listened (see below for more)
"(Washington, D.C.-May 19, 2005) Based on review of all public comments and congressional hearings, EPA will not finalize the sewage blending policy as proposed in November 2003.
"Blending is not a long-term solution,'' said Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for the Office of Water. "Our goal is to reduce overflows and increase treatment of wastewater to protect human health and the environment."
To provide clarity in the ways peak wastewater flows are handled, the agency proposed a policy in November 2003 that addressed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements for municipal wastewater treatment during wet weather conditions. After receiving more than 98,000 public comments, the agency is now in the process of determining other options to address pollutant discharges during wet weather conditions.
EPA will continue to review policy and regulatory alternatives to develop the most feasible approaches to treat wastewater and protect communities, upstream and downstream. EPA will work with Congress, communities, and citizens on effective and efficient approaches that protect communities and ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act.
For information about the proposed policy, go to: http://www.epa.gov/npdes/blending . "
On the same day, the House voted to stop the blending policy by a voice vote in the House. There are a lot of fights left on the progressive front, but step back and realize that we are doing good, not all our efforts are in vain.
We can beat these bastards back with common sense, and we did it again on May 19th. Congratulations.