·Mon~bly 1
ovember 1984
Publication of the Associated Students Environmental Center, Western Washington University
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Volume 6
En vir o nm ental BIues
John Miles
In the seccm. presidential debate, President 1eagari W:1S asked a questicn that caused him to reflect en the poµ..iJaticn problem in Central lil'erican am other parts of the wor 1d. His respoose \.BS instructive. There is no poµ..ilaticn problem, he suggested. "~ientists" have clear J.y irrlicated that there is plenty of land for the world 's peoples. Thus, he dismi Merl of the nnst perplexing problems of oor tirres. This respcnse is synptamtic of t h e ~ administration's respcnse to nnst envirooIJBntal probl.em3 during the past foor years. It has always been able to firx:l sare expert to reassure it that env.ircnrental problems are oot W1at sare ''naysayers" claim that they are. The administraticn has dooe as little as it cruld get awzy with in regard to envir'Cl'll1Ental rra tters. legulations, after all, might be an
umue rur-
den oo b.lsiness. Ole gcal of the
administration, cited emlessly, has been to reduce govemrIEnt interfere,ce in the lives (arxi b.lsiness) of ftoorican citizens. In doing oo, it has mde the envircment a mre ~isan issue than it has been in alm:)st a ca,tury of goverTJn'Blt action oo env:m:J1Ii'B1tal natters. Mmy exanples can be cited of Jeaepn administratioo tactics for reducing regulatory b.Jrdens at the expense of env.ircnrental prot.ectioo. 'Ire Clean Air Act of 19TI, for instance, na.rx:iated air pollutian st:arxiaros for D'Blly industries. 'lhirty seven such Continued on .5
0 z yrnandias I root a traveller frcm an antique land, W1o said-"'J\..Q vast arxi trunkless legs of stooe Stam in the desert •••• tear them, oo the sand, H3.lf sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, Arxi wrinkled lip, arxi sneer of cold camanct, Toll that its sculptor well those µissions read Wlich yet survive, starrped oo these lifeless things, The harx:i that nncked them, arxi the heart that fed. ' Arxi oo the pedestal, these IDrds appear: ''ff narre is Crzyrmooias, King of Kings, Look en nu W:>rks, ye Mighty, am despair!" lt>thing beside rerrains. 1bum the decay Of that oolossal rcreck, boumless arxi bare 'Ihe lone arxi level sarxis stretch far away. -Percy Bys.she 3-lelley
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