Issue 67

The Environmental Destruction Agency

This is how fascism works:  Despite the latest fantasies cooked up about the need for a “Space Force,” you don’t wake up one morning to find that Fascism has landed from outer space and taken over – it happens gradually in real time right before our eyes.

Lies are repeated so often that Truth becomes a “relative” concept.  Those who try desperately to preserve and report the Truth are deemed “enemies of the people.”  Long-time adversaries who have illegally sought to influence our elections are embraced as friends.  There is a gradual erosion of everything we consider sacred to our democracy.  And one by one, our government agencies put in place to protect our interests are destroyed from the inside out.

Nowhere is this more evident than with the gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which might as well be renamed, The Environmental Destruction Agency.

The EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics recently announced a proposed “Significant New Use Rule” (SNUR) for asbestos — the mineral once widely used in the construction of buildings due to its flame-retardant properties but has since been proven to be a dangerous carcinogen.

If small amounts of asbestos are breathed into the lungs they can cause mesothelioma and other forms of cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 2,500 Americans die from asbestos-related mesothelioma every year.

 

Magnification of asbestos fibers

The new rule would still require that the health risks of new products be evaluated but specifically bans evidence of previously proven health effects from existing asbestos products, essentially wiping the slate clean for risk assessment of new products. Really?

In science (as in life) there are facts and ignoring proven facts is antithetical to sound scientific principles and policy-making.

Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt who led the fight to remove the ban on asbestos

We have gone to great lengths and expense to safely remove this dangerous material from old structures including schools and hospitals and from the demolition of old buildings. What could possibly motivate EPA administrators to issue a rule that might reintroduce this known carcinogen in the U.S. and create new exposures and health risks?  What’s next?  New applications for toxic mercury and lead?

Workers in HazMat suits removing asbestos contamination

Furthermore, we should be asking, “What could have possibly inspired such an unnecessary risk?”  Could it be that a leading asbestos firm in Russia has praised our president and put his picture on their asbestos packaging?  As reported in the media and confirmed by Snopes, Uralasbest, one of the world’s largest producers and sellers of asbestos, has taken to adorning pallets of its product with a seal of Trump’s face, along with the words “Approved by Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States”.

Pallets of Russian asbestos “approved by [the] 45th president of the U.S.”

This blatant manipulation of a “protection” agency to enhance profits at the expense of peoples’ health and a sustainable environment is yet another example of the steady march towards fascism.  Our only hope of turning this around is to kick the complacent and corrupt GOP the hell out of Congress.  Less than 90 days to go.  Let’s get the Blue Tidal Wave rolling!