THE PERCHLORATE SCARE

"A National Academy of Sciences panel says the Environmental Protection Agency hasn't justified the need for a virtual no-tolerance limit on pollution from perchlorate, a chemical in rocket fuel and military munitions that has fouled drinking water supplies nationwide. The panel's review aims to settle a high-stakes EPA dispute with the military and aerospace communities, which could face billions of dollars in cleanup costs if the agency strictly limits perchlorate pollution. The Pentagon pushed for the Academy review after an EPA study concluded that perchlorate levels in drinking water should be limited to 1 part per billion to ensure public safety. There currently is no federal limit on perchlorate pollution, though a few states are moving to set limits of less than 10 ppb in drinking water.

Perchlorate is a salt that affects the thyroid gland's hormone production. Some studies have found that even relatively small doses can affect the mental development of young children, especially if their mothers consume it during pregnancy. The pollutant has turned up in 35 states, and low levels have been found in many public drinking water supplies, including the Colorado River. About 11 million people drink water with at least 4 ppb of the chemical, according to the Academy. The Academy concluded that humans can safely ingest 20 times as much perchlorate as the EPA study suggested. That still is far lower than the amount the Pentagon and its contractors say is safe.

But environmental and public health groups consider the Academy's findings a defeat because many areas where drinking water is polluted with relatively low concentrations of perchlorate won't have to be cleaned up if the Academy's conclusions become law. "Places where there are low concentrations of perchlorate spread over a large area will be wiped off the map in terms of cleanup" if the EPA adopts the Academy's findings, says Lenny Siegel of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight.

A Bush administration official praised the report as an independent review that can help settle the debate. "We respect the (Academy) recommendations," says Bob Hopkins of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. "We will work with the agencies ... on how best to incorporate these findings into (regulatory) action."

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NEW ZEALAND CLAPTRAP

The N.Z. Greens actually want us to revert to sailing ships! A New Zealander correspondent writes:

"Have you seen this "state of the planet" speech, no less, by one of the co-leaders of the NZ Greens. Strong on doomsday oil-running-out rhetoric and 'only the greens can save us' nonsense. Also a fairly large dose of leftist claptrap...

"It is oil that makes it seem normal for two ships to pass in the Tasman Sea, one carrying Griffin's biscuits and Tip Top ice cream from New Zealand to Australia, the other carrying Arnott's biscuits and Streets ice cream from Australia to New Zealand. And with a net effect of what, exactly?"

Heaven forbid you get a choice of icecream. But then this might be saved by...

"We will no longer trade low-value goods in bulk around the world. We will trade less and do more for ourselves. We will use air less and high-tech wind-assisted shipping more. We will abandon the free-trade agreements we are seeking and develop fair-trading relationships for those products we really need."

Yep, sail is going to bring in the Aussie delicacies. But then "we" will decide what you really need anyway, so guess what you don't actually need. Then in a concluding paragraph on why you should vote Green and taking a broad swipe at the opposition, after outlining what the government will decide for the people and what must be done for the good of the planet no less...

"they will be taken even closer to National's authoritarianism"

Leftist projection again, National being the moderate centre-right party and not exactly authoritarian by any stretch. Oh there is the obligatory "US foreign policy" rant as well, for some reason. You could fisk the whole thing, but it ain't worth the trouble. It is a laugh, well it would be if the clowns weren't in power and it didn't sound like a Nuremberg address. Oh there is an election coming up, so it is little wonder the doomsday prognoses are coming out.

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Many people would like to be kind to others so Leftists exploit that with their nonsense about equality. Most people want a clean, green environment so Greenies exploit that by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats to the environment. But for both, the real motive is to promote themselves as wiser and better than everyone else, truth regardless.

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