SlowpokeBlog

I meant to link to this a couple days ago -- Paul Krugman had an excellent column on one of the most anti-human policies of the Bush administration: their refusal to reduce toxic mercury pollution according to the Clean Air Act. Honestly, if most Americans -- progressives and regressives alike -- understood what is going on here, they would be outraged.

The head of the E.P.A.'s Office of Air and Radiation, like most key environmental appointees in the Bush administration, previously made his living representing polluting industries (which, in case you haven't guessed, are huge Republican donors). On mercury, the administration didn't just take industry views into account, it literally let the polluters write the regulations: much of the language of the administration's proposal came directly from lobbyists' memos.

And we were worried about chemicals in Iraq?

I did a cartoon on this a few months ago, and I've half a mind to do another.