Your Government At Work

For some reason I found myself thinking about different news items I’ve come across recently.

Tim DeChristopher is a Utah environmentalist and former wilderness guide. In 2008, the government was auctioning off some oil and gas leases near two national parks. DeChristopher signed up and drove up the bids, winning several of the leases. The problem was he didn’t have any money.

That really upset the applecart. His prank earned him two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Compare this with the BP oil spill last year that killed 11 workers, destroyed the gulf coast economy, and ravaged the environment. BP’s chairman of the board was invited to lunch at the White House, and Republicans apologized to CEO Tony Hayworth for inconveniencing him when he was asked to testify before a Senate committee. The Justice Department is still considering criminal charges. BP is back to drilling in the Gulf.

The Vermont Yankee power plant has been leaking tritium for over a year now, and some of it has just been found in the Connecticut River. Strontium, much more dangerous than tritium, has also been found in the soil at the plant, and in fish in the river. A few years ago, one wall of a cooling tower collapsed – not because of an earthquake, tornado, or hurricane, but because it was badly built. That was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s conclusion.

Given all the problems it has had, Vermont wants the plant shut down when its license expires in March. The owners are suing the state government, saying it has no right to shut them down, and the NRC is helping them prepare their case.

A year or so ago, fully armed federal agents working for the Dept. of Agriculture raided a gourmet cheese shop and yanked cheeses off the shelf. Why? Because some of the specialty cheeses were allegedly made with raw milk. Agents also raided a family farm and confiscated a young girl’s computer because the farm reportedly allowed people to buy raw milk.

Remember last year’s salmonella outbreak caused by eggs from huge factory farms where millions of chickens are kept in unsanitary conditions? Several hundred people got sick, and possibly some died. The outbreak was first detected in May, but the Center for Disease Control didn’t issue a recall until August. And even though the offending farms were known and identified, no action was taken against the company that owns them. They’re still cranking out eggs the same way they always have.