The Standell's wrote a song about Boston that began Down by the river, down by the banks of the River Charles with the punch line being I love that dirty water Boston your my home. Today you could write the song on the banks of the Juniata or anywhere that hydrofracking for gas on Marcellus Shale is done. Congressman Bill Shuster, Marcellus Shale Coalition's indentured servant voted to pass HR 2018 called the "dirty water bill.
HR 2018 has been called one of the worst bills of all time. That is saying something for Congressman Shuster who so far in just a few months has voted no on extending unemployment benefits, no to equal pay for equal work for women, he has voted to destroy the Clean Air Act, and made it more dangerous to fly on an airline according to pilot Sully Sullenberger, who should know a little about airline safety, by trying to deregulate airline rules and now the dirty water act. And that doesn't even include his attempts to push Congressman Paul Ryan's world class stupid budget that 80% of America hates because of it turning Medicare into a voucher program.
HR 2018 would prevent the EPA from insuring that states don't lower clean water standards in a way that allows pollution to pass downstream to neighboring states the way hydrofracking fluid has already gone downstream and polluted the Cheseapeake Bay in Maryland. This bill also prevents the EPA from using the best scientific evidence to improve water quality standards. This bill places the role of enforcement in state hands and allows all of those bought and paid for by coal and gas industries money at a time when it is appearing that the Right was in an absolute state of denial over global climate change and counting campaign cash from the worlds worst polluters to make wrong decisions for self interest.
In an article on Huffington Post on July 6, 2011 Robert Kennedy Jr. called this bill an assault on clean water and democracy. Some of us still remeber the good old days when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire and Lake Erie was this azure blue from chemicals released into it and it was called a dead lake. The Clean water act starting in 1972 began the process of changing these things so that all of us have enjoyed fishing and swimming in water you couldn't get close to once upon a time.
Tonight the real operative question is who is it exactly that Congressman Bill Shuster represents? It certainly isn't even Republicans in Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District.
I just also wanted to take a moment to point out that the other day I posted an article that President Obama was ready to make major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in exchange for tax increases as yet unspecified, I was outraged and one day later the main stream media caught up to Philadelphia Progressive Examiner. Maybe Washington should pay more attention.
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