One for all?

I've been thinking a lot lately of my ineffectiveness. I can easily rant & rave on this blog and complain about about the insanity, but what does that really do? No doubt, nothing, since I'm probably the only one that even bothers to read it :) I've been wondering if there is anything I could really do. Our country and our planet are in a serious mess right now and I'm wondering what I could really do. In other words, I'm feeling really worthless. One thing that has been bothering me, is the way Congress is attacking the EPA. They keep trying to get around the regulations the EPA is trying to impose by passing laws that, pretty much, say the regulations are bogus, and no one has to listen to them. Or that the EPA can't make those regulations. It's like those jerks you used to play with on the playground that would change the rules cause they didn't like how the game was going. Yeah, you know you've played with jerks like that. Anyway. To me, it's disheartening, as I've stated before that these "jerks" have decided that the EPA doesn't know what they are doing and their power should be limited....by politicians. Okay, so let me get this straight. You have an government organization, created to administer laws & regulations that are there to improve our environment. These regulations were created AFTER lots of scientists conducted lots of studies and decided that yes, those regulations would in fact, improve our health & well being. So then, some politician (yes, I say that like it's a swear word) decides that his buddies, that are paying him kickbacks, don't like those regulations, so he decides he is going to introduce a bill in Congress to limit the power of the scientists. The ones that make regulations, so you don't die at a young age from lung cancer or stomach cancer or radiation poisoning, or any number of other things nasty things that a person can get from the drinking water or the air we breath. So, my problem with ineffectiveness is that what can I do? I can't vote all the congressmen out of office and put new ones in. I can't scream loud enough for everyone to hear. I don't have enough money to buy a large enough billboard. I can't knock people in the head until they realize they are being idiots. I can't seem to even get a job where I can really make a difference. So what, exactly, am I supposed to do? What can I do to get people to listen? We seriously, as the American people, need to vote all incumbents out of office and get a clean slate in Congress, maybe then we'll get some change going on. But then we'd all have to agree, and then we'd all have to vote. People can't even agree that climate change is occurring, and we are witness to that on a daily basis, so how would be get that many people to agree to vote incumbents out of office? We need a government that is actually in office to do the will of the people, not to fill their own damn pockets or fulfill their own damn agendas. That is not what this country was founded on. We need some serious change!

What is with the attack on the EPA?

At work, I have to read through this database to find articles relating to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. And while going through these articles I get to read all about the other goings on in the environmental/political/legal world. Pretty cool......eh, um, maybe cool isn't the word. Disheartening, yeah, I think that covers it better.
The EPA has made regulations on GHG emissions that are being argued about, shot down, and otherwise criticized left and right. Congress is actually going to pass a law that says the EPA can't regulate whatever they are trying to regulate. And Obama recommended that the EPA wait until 2013 to revamp their regulations on ozone, instead of trying to push through regulations right now.  Why? What it really comes down to is, no one wants to pay for clean air. The EPA is trying to regulate cross-state emissions, all states are in an uproar. The power companies are mad, the states are mad, the senators getting kickbacks from the power companies are mad.  EPA is setting limits on ozone, mercury, and a few other nasty things that are in our air from coal burning power plants and other fossil fuel burning emitting sources. So, I have to ask, what's more important, being able to breath when you're 80 or the bottom line right now, at the moment. Everyone sees it all in black & white, no one sees a way that all this can be accomplished.
Another instance is the EPA setting limits on what is going into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. There are 11 states involved and the EPA is trying to limit total maximum daily loads and those states are throwing a fit. why? They don't want to pay. Farmers don't want to pay, governments don't want to pay, people don't want to pay. The bay will be dead and then who will pay for all the lost jobs, lost tourism, etc?
 The EPA is trying to change regulations in regards to wetlands, through the Clean Water Act. Now, some may know that I have a thing for wetlands, have done several research projects on them, and have studied them quite a bit. So, I can tell you that the amount of wetlands in the US is decreasing, at an alarming rate. And it's not supposed to be. The rate for removal is supposed to be 0, as in ZERO, a big goose egg. Uh, yeah, it's not. at  all. not even close. The regulation says NO NET LOSS OF WETLANDS. yeah, words on paper is what that is, nothing in practice. Anyway, the point is, the rules committee in Congress has warned the EPA that they should think really hard about the regulations they'd like to propose.
So everywhere the EPA turns they are getting hammered from all sides, the government, the people, other agencies, green organizations. Yeah, the green "people" sue the EPA when they think the EPA aren't doing enough to protect whatever natural resource is in question. And this is after Congress or the President has said no to proposed regulations by the EPA. It's all a viscous circle. And all they are trying to do is set regulations on pollutants that will eventually do nothing but harm us or the environment. They totally get the shaft.
So, how do we fix this mess that we are in. Well. let's see.......Congress needs to stop appropriating money for worthless things, like vacations, boats, excess retirement pension, and whatever else they waste our money on, and start helping clean up the environment. It needs to be done, sooner rather than later, or we will seriously be paying some steep prices in this lifetime, in terms of water shortages, mudslides, sea level rising, or increased air pollution. Here's a novel concept, why don't the exec's from the polluting companies use some of their million dollar bonuses and give money to farmers that need to implement in mitigation plans in the Bay area. Or Senators that get paid too much, they should use their money to pay for clean-up of the air. Hmmm, or here's an even better one, the kickbacks that are paid to Senators so that regulations aren't passed, maybe that could actually be used to clean up the pollution created by power companies. oh, yeah, now that's a good idea. It amazes me that people (read that as rich CEO's of huge polluting companies) spend so much time and money trying to avoid complying with regulations that improve our air and water quality, when they could probably save time and money by just fixing their plants to comply in the first place. While being facetious, to an extent, I do have real ideas on how things can be improved, some are pretty simple while others come with a complete revamping of our government and our way of thinking. None of which will ever see the light of day, I'm sure.
I guess it really won't matter because sooner rather than later, we are not going to be able to do anything because we (the human race) will be extinct because we didn't want to pay to clean up the environment. The studies and research going on right now indicate that we will soon, relatively speaking (20 years say), be experiencing water shortages in the US. Serious water shortages. And not just from changing climate, but from water contamination, overuse, and any number of things we do. So in the grand scheme of things, we are screwed no matter what way you look at it. I guess everyone should just get what you can for yourself while you can and to hell with everyone and anything else. right?