Cross-posted at Eclectablog.com.
Democrats and the Obama administration have taken a couple of steps recently to improve the safety of our food supply and to bring disclosure into the sordid business of fracking so that people know what chemicals are being used and which may eventually end up in their water supply. But Republicans are aghast – aghast I say! – that these actions may cut into corporate profits.
First, in December, Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar held public hearings on the issue of hydrofracturing (fracking) to increase the output of natural gas wells.
NRDC’s Executive Director, Peter Lehner, participated on a panel and highlighted critical issues: some locations that are too sensitive, and where the environmental risks are too high, should be off limits; wherever there is drilling, comprehensive best management practices should be required; and renewable energy and energy efficiency must be a critical part of our energy plan.
Peter, a former state official, also pointed out why federal regulations are so important. Most federal environmental programs are actually administered by the states, take into account local conditions, and rely on local regulators to know the local industry. Having state-tailored regulations is not inconsistent with having a federal standard, and having that federal standard assures citizens of different states that they are treated the same way, with the same standards, as elsewhere.
Secretary Salazar announced at this forum that the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management will be considering a policy regarding disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. This would be a great step and provide the public with crucial information about chemicals used on public land and in split estate circumstances (where private landowners live above federally-managed oil and gas resources). This is important because hydraulic fracturing chemicals are implicated indrinking water contamination and other environmental harms.
Notice that last bit. Secretary Salazar said the BLM is considering requiring disclosure of fracking chemicals. This sent Congressman Doc Hastings of Washington into a tizzy. He sent Sec. Salazar a letter (pdf) saying that this could not stand because disclosing the chemicals used in fracking would threaten thousands of jobs.
Dear Mr. Secretary:
The comments made yesterday by yourself [sic] and Presidential Advisor Carol Browner at the Departmental forum on hydraulic fracturing are deeply concerning. The distinct implication is that the Administration has already decided to move forward with a plan to increase permitting requirement on federal land with a policy that would threaten thousands of jobs, deepen the federal deficit through reduced revenues, and harm natural gas development and our nation's energy security.
Wow. Ken Salazar and Carol Browner must really hate America, huh?
I guess Congressman Hastings hasn't heard that Wyoming already has these requirements. So does Arkansas.
Then, this morning we learn that the GOP is going to try to make sure the recently-passed food safety law doesn't get funded.
The legislation would greatly strengthen the regulatory hand of the Food and Drug Administration, giving it new authority to order mandatory recalls and to require importers to show that the food they get from foreign suppliers is safe. Kathleen Sebelius, Mr. Obama’s health secretary, told reporters in a conference call set up by the White House on Monday that the idea is for “sea bass from Chile’’ to meet the same safety standards “as lobster that we get out of the shores of Maine.’’
The bill, which has the backing of food-safety advocates and industry groups, passed the Senate with considerable bipartisan support. Ms. Sebelius called it, "the most significant food safety law of the last 100 years." Under the current system, the F.D.A. simply tracks outbreaks after they occur; the new law will change the agency’s mission to focus on preventing outbreaks before they happen.
But with Republicans, who are set to take control of the House when the new Congress convenes on Wednesday, vowing to slash domestic spending on a variety of fronts, advocates fear lawmakers will not appropriate the full amount necessary to put the law into effect.
If it prevents Democrats including President Obama from scoring a victory of any kind, the Republicans will attempt to block it. That is clearly more important than the safety of our citizens and the food they eat. Clearly more important than knowing what chemicals may be in their drinking water. Although they may hide behind claims of jobs being threatened or the deficit being grown, the true basis for their concern is the profit margins of their corporate benefactors.
This is what a majority of Americans voted for on November 2nd, 2010. The question is this: were they stupid or just duped?
I'll go with "both".
I'm just sayin'...