Blast From The Past

(click to enlarge)

Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This cartoon ran in the spring of 2013, and related to the tremendous blast at the fertilizer facility in West, Texas, killing 14 people and virtually eliminating the town. Under then-Gov. Rick "Hair" Perry, Texas went on a deregulation spree, largely aimed at its petrochemical industries. They even made it part of their pitch to attract greedy, to-hell-with-public-health polluters who want no government intrusion in their affairs.

Fast forward four years, and Texas is still under the management of big bidness / small gubmint Rethuglicans, who see government regulation as anathema to their philosophy of laissez faire capitalism. In the aftermath of hurricane Harvey that knocked out power, we're seeing that business is still booming -- literally -- at a chemical plant in Crosby, TX operated by Arkema. There, unrefrigerated chemicals are exploding and catching fire. A few years ago, the plant operators were required to list the kinds and amounts of dangerous chemicals they had on site, but no more. Businesses involved in the manufacture of dangerous material are allowed secrecy as far as their operations are concerned by the state of Texas, four years after the devastation of West, Texas:

"Arkema, which operates six plants in Texas and has received more than $8.7 million in taxpayer subsidies from the state, aggressively lobbied the Trump administration to delay Environmental Protection Agency rules that would have required it to report more extensive information to first responders in case of a disaster, International Business Times reported this week."

Let that paragraph sink in: Arkema not only got an $8.7 million state taxpayer subsidies, they wanted to avoid providing information to first responders about the dangerous chemicals on site in the event of the type of disaster now unfolding in Crosby. That we can't lock them up for a very long time, along with the Rethuglicans that paved their way, is a crime in itself.

Waste Virginia's Bidness Problem

Now that last week's chemical spill in West Virginia is seemingly contained, environmental activists are asking questions about the lack of regulatory oversight of the ironically-named Freedom Industries plant producing the toxic MCHM chemical.  It appears that the last inspection of the plant near Charleston, WV was in 1991, and no one seemed to be concerned that the plant was on the banks of the Elk River, upstream from a water plant serving hundreds of thousands of people.

Charles P. Pierce's take is that the State's anything-goes bidness-friendly environment led to an abdication of responsibility on the part of State regulators to the citizens, who were on the losing end of the State's "economic development" deals to entice corporate predators to set up shop in the State.

UPDATE:  Weeper of the House and man-with-the-suspicious-orange-glow John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner thinks we have enough regulations.  Tell that to your constituents in the Cincinnati area, who may be affected by the upstream spill.

Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

As Rethuglicans intend it, deregulation of business isn't about efficiency, or productivity. It's certainly not about public safety, the environment or preventing fraud and abuse. It's about profits, and the continued contributions by corporations and the wealthy to their campaign coffers.