Taking a “time-out” from protecting the environment and American consumers doesn’t seem like a good idea. Yet, that’s what Sen. Susan Collins is proposing we do, in an effort to boost the economy during this downturn.
Collins recently visited Sanford to promote her one-year “time-out” plan, saying that businesses should not have to deal with new regulations while they are trying to create jobs for the millions of unemployed Americans. New regulations, such as a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce fossil fuel emissions from boilers, would cost money for businesses, no doubt, which might prevent them from spending money on new employees.
The problem is, there will always be an excuse for us to skirt environmental and consumer protection regulations. No matter what the economy, it’s far easier and more profitable in almost every instance to take the easier road. It’s cheaper to dump waste into a river than to treat it, to run food straight to the packaging line without any quality or safety testing, to release tons of toxins into the air rather than reduce emissions. Those realities will never change.
In a civilized society, however, we realize the long-term benefits of such safeguards as food safety and environmental regulations. Every single American benefits from safety regulations, and when it comes to air pollution, our regulations or lack thereof, impact the entire world.
As scientific processes become more adept at showing us how pollution can be mitigated effectively, thereby reducing the harmful effects of some of our industrial processes, it makes sense to use that technology to protect our future.
How will we explain to the next generation, as they deal with the effects of a polluted environment and unsafe products, that we decided it was okay to put off enforcement of the rules that would have prevented the damage? There is no excuse for it, not even the need to improve the economy.
A compromise is called for here as we try to balance protections with helping businesses thrive so they can create jobs. Instead of calling off regulators entirely, we’d like to see Collins push for reasonable regulations that allow businesses an acceptable period of time to upgrade their facilities and practices in order to meet standards. Some leniency should be given, particularly if a business can show that it is creating jobs, but we must be vigilant in enforcing the regulations that protect workers, consumers and the environment or we will regret it in the future.
We must not forget, also, that improvements in safety and mitigation systems can also create jobs, at least in the short term, and that should be taken into consideration.
Collins has said she would like to use the “time-out” period to reform the regulatory process and has introduced bills to that end. One of those bills proposes a cost-benefit analysis for new regulations. The analysis would consider lost jobs as part of the equation, but it’s hard to measure the impact to the quality of life and place ”“ and it’s those intangibles that will bite us in the long run.
Putting off enforcement of regulations until 2012 ”“ a presidential election year ”“ smacks of political maneuvering, and we had hoped our senator was above that.
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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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