Texas! You dirty, dirty boy.

  You learn something new everyday.  In all honesty, I had no idea that we were So Filthy of a state when it comes to air and water pollution.  The Dallas Morning News Editorial team brought this to light for me in their July 13th, 2011 article entitled "With new pollution rules, EPA tries to save Texas from itself".  In a clear argument, DMN identifies the way that Texas Republicans are trying to dodge responsibility for spending the funds necessary to bring Texas' aging, sulfur/mercury emitting power plants to the EPA's new standards of compliance.  They even offer some estimates on the annual cost of pollution control/compliance vs. the anticipated annual health benefits.  

While the benefits seem to outweigh the costs, not to mention we're talking about saving lives and keeping our kids' air breathable, it seems Gov. Perry just can't come to terms with the EPA's rules if it's gunna cost money.  The article claims he says "Unfair!".  As if maybe he was Just handed a 24 hour notice, and hadn't a chance in Hell to comply by the deadline.  But a quick Google search of "Texas Pollution Ranking" brings up a September of 2009 article

from the El Paso Paper online that proves the EPA's been on Texas' butt about it's insufficient pollution standards.  In the article, they even say that were Texas an independent nation (as I'm sure some if not most residents consider it to be) it would rank 7th in the world for deadly toxic emissions!  Now, 2 Years later, Perry hasn't made a move to comply, or attempted to pay up?

I agree with the DMN, that if Texas has long been the leader in polluting our air, that we should also set a better example by putting our money into a cause that will benefit our lungs for years to come.  I understand that observing these rules will undoubtedly cause some shutdowns, heartache, and lost wages for plant workers in the Texas Panhandle and coasts.  But everything comes with a cost.  What happens when we can no longer hike in the Rolling Hills of the Greenbelt, fish in our Beautiful Lakes, or dip in the Guadalupe River on a 105* summer day?  I tell you what:  Texas will be just another hot state.

(A commentor on the DMA article stated the following: "More U.S. waters are closed to fishing because of mercury contamination than because of any other toxic contamination problem. In Texas, 361,433 acres of lakes and the entire Texas Gulf Coast are under fish consumption advisories.")  It was the motivation for me to look into how I can help comply, and make my state a little cleaner.