The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce environment and economy subcommittee had a hearing yesterday over the GOP-authored Chemicals in Commerce Act, proposed legislation that would, in theory, update and reform the painfully irrelevant Toxic Substances Control Act.
NPR covered the hearing in this article. The main take-away from the hearing is that the CiCA, if passed as written, would strip away state-level legislative powers regarding the regulation of toxic chemicals. As Massachusetts State Senator Michael Moore put it, "To strip states' residents of protections enacted by their elected officials would be a serious breach of state sovereignty and would leave everyone more susceptible to increased harm from toxic chemicals."
Anyone else sick to their stomach?
Sh*t's getting real, folks. This is where we see the federal legislative process work -- or not work. This is where we see whose interests get more attention, voters or corporations. Just exactly who's working for whom in the nation's capitol?
I poked around the web to see what other coverage came out of the hearing. Quite a bit. The Seattle Times published this editorial in Monday's paper. Plastics News has a predictable take here. TheHill.com reported on the hearing here.
Read up on the hearing, and the proposed bill. I'll try to form some intelligible opinion on the whole thing, but that may take a couple days.
Nearly speechless,
Jazzy
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