Who’s watching out for the environment? Apparently, not our elected officials. Courtesy of Environmental Defense Action Fund, last year saw the following assaults on the environment:
The U.S. House of Representatives voted seven times to dismantle the Clean Air Act…
There were 28 votes to weaken the Clean Water Act….
The House voted 191 times on bills or amendments to undermine pour health and environmental standards….
There were 84 votes to block actionstaht prevent pollution, and 114 votes targeting the EPA (the only federal agency that can take action on global warming).
Last year alone, Congress accepted over $40 million from the power industry lobby, and 22% of all votes taken in the House last year were to undermine environmental protections, roll back environmental laws and endanger public healthy.
Guess the lobbyists got their money’s worth.
Guess we have to do more.
Go to the link above. If you can, make a donation. If you can’t, or if you do, contact your legislators, and let them know that this year, you’re watching them.
revelgardener 
Our ‘leaders’, if you want to call them that, have become little more than corporate representatives, many of which would be in jail if they had to follow the laws everyone else does. It’s no wonder politicians and schools are trying to make the constitution be looked at as an outdated document. If enough people actually realized it’s main function was to limit the power of the federal government things might change. If people realized being a politician was never meant to be a career but rather a public servant things might change. If people realized Democrat or Republican, both brought about the ruin of this country. Both parties lie about the state of the country, and the media goes right along spreading those lies. I could go on and on.
On the environment. see the paragraph above. Profit and maintaining their jobs are what motivates politicians. For whatever amount it has helped, I have been a long time member and supported of The American Littoral Society:
http://www.littoralsociety.org/about_us.aspx
Their purpose is to protect the environment, coastal waters in particular. Especially now days not everyone has the extra money to support a worthwhile organization. Like many others, donations/ membership to the ALS is fully tax deductible, so if the government won’t support worthwhile causes, try to support an organization for the better good. Then have the government pay you for doing it on your tax refund. There’s a certain enjoyable irony to that 🙂
I checked out the website. Sounds like they’re doing good things. I especially like their comment about how reading about the coast can get you interested in it but getting your feet in the water and digging your toes in the sand gets you passionate about it. Makes sense to me! I’m looking forward to toes in sand soon. I also donate to Nature Conservancy, and just sent in a check yesterday. It wasn’t much but, like you said, nice to put our dollars toward some worthwhile efforts and get Uncle Sam to give us some credit for it too! Also, right now if you contribute at least $15.00, Nature Conservancy will send you a gardening tote. I’ll post pics when mine arrives. 🙂
I just ran across these 2 stories about food issues:
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2012/p0314_foodborne.html
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/diseases-imported-food-rise-cdc-203206051.html
I find it interesting, not in a good way, how the CDC is only reporting on this problem up to 2010. Last I checked it’s 2012. When will there be an official notice about all the radiation being spilled into the ocean and air from Japan being dangerous? It’s already ‘unofficially’ being found in seafood and making it’s way through our food chain as the fallout hits land and is washed into the soil by rain, gets taken up by plants which are eaten by animals, which in turn are eaten by us?
Japan is making efforts to limit at least some radiation in food:
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2012031500967
while on this side of the globe the safe limits of radiation in food have been quietly increased many times over what it’s been, and governments have for the most part been quiet and/ or have ignored the problem.
Another interesting story, also read comments:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/03/the-real-cause-of-the-global-obesity-epidemic.html