It’s always Christmastime for polluters
The majority of Houston-area lawmakers in the Texas House voted against legislation intended to protect the public from toxic air pollution, a Houston Chronicle analysis of 2005 voting records has found.
We assume that our elected representatives are in office to look out for the interest of their constituents, right? God, are we naive or what??
Anyone who lives in or around the Houston area understands how important the chemical and petroluem industries are to the local economy. You might think that local and state government might see it as their responsibility to protect the health and safety of residents in the eight-county Houston metropolitan area. It’s a fine line, right? You certainly don’t want to hamper the ability of industry to be successful and spread the benefits around the local economy, but you also don’t want to see children born with three nipples and an eye in the center of their forehead. Of course, if you’re silly enough to think that government is here to protect us from the excesses of a petrochemical industry concerned only with the bottom line…well, you really ARE naive, aren’t you?
The five rejected amendments would have made the state’s health screening levels for pollution more strict, required companies to continuously monitor emissions and set fines for the periodic releases known as “upsets” that plague fence-line neighborhoods.
Yet 20 of 34 representatives in the eight-county region, where toxic pollution problems have been well-documented, particularly along the Houston Ship Channel, voted to table these actions.
All 20 of the dissenters are Republicans, some of them representing industrial districts such as Pasadena, Baytown and Seabrook, where people and industry exist side by side.
Gee, what a shock…Republicans coming down on the side of industry at the expense of their constituents. Whoda thunkit? And before you begin to think that career state employees might be above crass political considerations and more willing to protect the public interest, you might just want to read this.
People before profits? Not in this neck of the woods….
