When will this Congress begin to listen to its constituents? While 1 million people will become ill from drinking tap water this year and 100 million people are still breathing air that does not meet basic health standards, the 104th Congress is on the verge of rolling back 25 years of environmental and public health standards.
Within their first year, the 104th Congress has used every opportunity to attempt to weaken our environmental and health standards. In May, the House passed a “Dirty Water” bill that would allow for more contaminants in our waterways, when 50 percent of our lakes and 30 percent of our rivers are already unsafe for fishing and swimming.
Last fall, the Senate passed a drinking water bill that actually weakens our current standards while failing to define reasonable standards for arsenic and radon levels in tap water. These rollbacks have the potential to spell disaster for the citizens of Chicago. They mean that our skies will continued to be polluted with 7 million pounds of emissions from oil refine- ries and Illinois will continue to rank in the top five states with the worst water pollution.
While Congress and special interests are striving for weaker regulations and higher profits, average citizens across the country are demanding more, not less environmental protection. Here’s hoping this Congress and the Illinois delegation will finally begin to get the message.
