another one bite the dust

While you all were getting your fill of High Fructose Corn Syrup disguised as a tasty treat, George W. Bush was poisoning your water supply.

Thousands of factory farms will be exempt from needing permits that limit water pollution thanks to a new Bush Administration rule signed today. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency did not adopt improved controls for bacteria and other pathogens that can pose risks to human health and wildlife.

The new rule:

– Creates a loophole allowing facility operators to avoid permits by claiming they won’t have a discharge.
– Adopts a scheme that allows facilities to avoid certain environmental enforcement. For instance, if an operator certifies that the facility won’t have a discharge, environmental authorities will ignore enforcement action, even if the facility discharges to the nation’s waters.
– Rejects improvements in technology that would reduce harmful bacteria and other pathogens contained in animal waste, missing an opportunity to prevent water pollution and threats to public health.

Look… the Bush Administration is not stupid. They understand that by signing these policies into law it is going to take a lot of effort by the next administration to overturn them, assuming they will care. He just allowed for your water to be polluted for years and years.

Human rights violation? anyone?

you can read the whole press release from the NRDC, HERE.