[607] in peace2
Keep Arsenic Out of Tap Water (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vinay Kumar)
Sun Mar 25 00:07:51 2001
From: Vinay Kumar <vkumar@ai.mit.edu>
Message-Id: <200103250506.AAA09627@visual-cortex.mit.edu>
To: peace-list@mit.edu
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 00:06:53 -0500 (EST)
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FYI. Please forward to others who might be interested.
vinay
Forwarded message:
> From: "ActForChange" <takeaction@actforchange.com>
> To: "Activist" <takeaction@actforchange.com>
> Subject: Keep Arsenic Out of Tap Water
> Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 14:00:33 -0800
>
>
> When Americans turn on their faucets, they expect the water coming out to be
> safe to drink. Yet, in President Bush's latest clumsy and craven payback to
> his powerful industrialist backers, the Environmental Protection Agency
> announced Tuesday it will withdraw a new requirement to reduce levels of
> poisonous arsenic allowed in our tap water.
>
> http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=11004
>
> In response, Working Assets is sponsoring an urgent action on this issue.
> Please tell the EPA to rethink this terrible decision. Simply click on the
> link above, or cut and paste it into your browser.
>
> A proven carcinogen, arsenic occurs naturally, but is also a common
> byproduct of mining operations. Not coincidentally, Bush received more money
> from the mining industry during last year's campaign than any other
> candidate for federal office, and his party sucked in another $5.6 million
> from the same special interest lobby. Bush's loyalty to these supporters
> comes at the expense of some 13 million Americans the EPA itself estimates
> are at risk from deadly diseases linked to arsenic exposure: Cardiovascular
> disease, diabetes, birth defects, reproductive problems, neurological damage
> and cancers of the bladder, lung, skin, kidney, nasal passage, liver and
> prostate.
>
> (Such a stark example of the power of special interest money and the real
> harm it can do comes right in the middle of a crucial Senate debate on
> campaign finance reform. Votes on controversial amendments to the
> McCain-Feingold reform legislation are happening nearly every day. If you
> have not told your Senators how you feel on the legalized bribery that
> passes for elections these days, please use the link below to do so today.
> http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=10601)
>
> "This decision will force millions of Americans to continue to drink
> arsenic-laced water," said Erik D. Olson of the National Resources Defense
> Council said of the EPA backslide. "Many will die from arsenic-related
> cancers and other diseases, but George Bush apparently doesn't care. This
> outrageous act is just another example of how the polluters have taken over
> the government."
>
> The new standard was a result of more than a decade of scientific reviews,
> public hearings, and discussions with health experts and industry, and
> mirrors the international standard adopted several years ago by the World
> Health Organization and the European Union. The old standards the Bush
> Administration is re-imposing were designed in 1942, before the dangerous
> long-term effects of low-level exposure to arsenic were well-understood. A
> March 1999 report by the prestigious National Academy of Sciences concluded
> that these outdated standards do not "achieve EPA's goal of protecting
> public health and should be lowered as soon as possible."
>
> All Americans expect and deserve safe drinking water. Please help us stop
> this cynical, murderous decision by the Bush Administration and the EPA.
> Tell EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman that as our public servant she must
> stand up for public safety, rather than kowtow to the president's
> financiers.
>
> http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=11004
>
> There is strength in numbers! So once you take action, please forward this
> e-mail to friends and associates so they can speak out, too.
>
> With appreciation,
>
>
> Michael Kieschnick
> President, Working Assets
