Eco Alley

Living Green with Connie Pumphrey

Every time there is a push to clean up the environment, corporations begin their rant that jobs will suffer and the economy will collapse if they are required to follow the rules….yes, the rules.  There are enough environmental laws on the books to wallpaper the CIA.  I think what corporations mean is that they just don’t want to change. 
The United States seriously began protecting the environment during the Nixon administration.  In 1970, Nixon signed into law the Environmental Protection Agency and later the Clean Air Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.  Jimmy Carter signed into law the Dept. of Energy, the Soil & Water Conservation Acts the Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Acts among others.  George H. W. Bush signed the Clean Air Act of 1990 – aimed at reducing smog & air pollution.  Other presidents have added additional laws.  And, guess what?  The economy didn’t collapse after those changes were made. 
The cost of doing business in America is very high and remaining competitive is tough but not that tough.  The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2010 that during the 3rd quarter of 2010, American businesses earned profits at an annual rate of $1.659 trillion, the highest recorded since keeping began 60 years ago!  Times aren’t nearly as hard as they would lead us to believe.
I think there is a way to bridge the gap between environmentalists and big corporations.  An acquaintance who owns car washes told me recently that he actually SAVED money after changing his facilities to meet environmental standards.  He quickly recovered his initial investment and uses less water and substantially less cleaning solvents.  We’re just not thinking this through!

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11/11 at 04:33 PM

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