Big Polluters Exempted From Environmental Oversight
According to Democracy Now yesterday, big polluters including BP and Dow have been exempted from environmental oversight on more than 179,000 stimulus-funded projects. You can read the entire very short item here.
My first reaction is “say it ain’t so, Joe.” But a little Googling shows it’s actually worse. According to the Center for Public Integrity’s original statement, the Obama administration was so eager to get stimulus-funded projects into the pipeline that it even granted a waiver for BP’s notorious Texas City refinery (site of a horrible accident in 2005), and claims…
…the administration has devised a speedy review process that relies on voluntary disclosures by companies to determine whether stimulus projects pose environmental harm. Corporate polluters often omitted mention of health, safety, and environmental violations from their applications. In fact, administration officials told the Center they chose to ignore companies’ environmental compliance records in making grant decisions and issuing NEPA exemptions, saying they considered such information irrelevant. [emphasis added]
Surely, there are better ways to restore our economy.
A lifelong activist, profitability and marketing specialist Shel Horowitz’s mission is to fix crises like hunger, poverty, racism, war, and catastrophic climate change—by showing the business world how fixing them can make a profit. An author, international speaker, and TEDx Talker, his award-winning 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, lays out a blueprint for creating and MARKETING those profitable change-making products and services. He is happy to help you craft your messaging and develop profit strategies. Learn more (and download excerpts from the book) at http://goingbeyondsustainability.com
Accessing federal dollars is a fascinating labyrinth of paperwork and regulations. Seems like the big corporados are the ones w/ the most savvy (and staff to devote!) to cut through the red tape. I’ve been involved in two tiny stimulus-funded projects and you should see the paperwork!! This news item is indeed discouraging; I naively thought stimulus money was going to clean energy and efficiency projects. Oh, and roads and bridges. . . . .
Yes, Julie, it seems any time the government gets involved, so does bureaucracy. In my days running a resume writing service (on typewriters, in the early years), I used to dread getting an applicant for a federal job. The form SF-171 ran many pages. Ought to be a better way, and ought to be more stimulus money going to green jobs.