The mantra of those who implement ethical business practices is: It’s the managers’ job to do things right. It’s the job of the executive to make sure the right things are done.
When it comes to the environment and the protection of children, our executive, George Bush, and his ultraconservative supporters are far from ethical when it comes down to doing the right things. First of all, they are dangerously manipulative, saying one thing while meaning the opposite in order to fulfill their self-interests and meet the goals of their profits-first agenda.
Consider the manipulative and dishonest marketing of something they call “The Clear Skies Act.” Sounds nice, but in truth it is a dirty-air bill that permits power industries to spew six times the amount of mercury into the environment than the Environmental Protection Agency currently allows. The “Clear Skies Act” is a license to harm children because mercury is a neurotoxin that can cause retardation, seizures, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities. According to EPA reports, 630,000 babies are born at risk of high blood levels of mercury each year.
The Los Angeles Times reported in November 2003 that after the Bush administration deregulated the manufacturers of rat poison, 50,000 children were sickened after ingesting the poison. Industry increased profits by removing the “bitter ingredient,” which deterred ingestion, but what about the children? They, like American adults, have become lab rats in this profits-first corporate culture.
Just how much poison will our citizens swallow before we say no to those who put profits before people? Just how long will we allow the ultraconservatives to treat us like children and write toxic policies behind closed doors which are destructive to ourselves, the environment and our democracy? We must stop this toxicity. Write your representatives today and tell them to protect the people by supporting effective environmental regulation.
Teresa Dix
Coupeville
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