Licking Their Chops: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency´s decision not to regulate a toxic rocket-fuel ingredient in drinking water has environmental litigators rolling up their sleeves and getting ready to file.

 

The EPA announced Friday that it will take public comment for 30 days before finalizing its decision not to regulate perchlorate, a thyroid-disruptive contaminant, in drinking water. Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups immediately declared the EPA´s decision ill-advised and started beating their war drums.

 

The Department of Defense used perchlorate for many years to test missiles and rockets. Perchlorate contamination is often concentrated in areas around military bases.

 

The Pentagon could face liability if the EPA were to set a drinking water standard that forced water agencies to undertake cleanups, according to the above-linked Associated Press report. Defense Department officials maintain they did not seek to influence the EPA´s decision.

 

Counterintuitive CO2: While the rest of the economy slides down a greasy rail toward the abyss, the carbon offset market is riding high, the Washington Post reports.

 

"Experts say this is possible, in part, for economic reasons: The financial crisis has not yet reached those upper-middle-class consumers who are willing to pay $12 to offset a cross-country flight, $80 for a wedding or $400-plus for a year of life ..."

 

I suspect those upper-middle-class consumers´ day of reckoning is drawing very near, if it hasn´t hit already. Did anybody see what the Dow did yesterday?

 

"... The increase was driven in part by the demand from corporations, which bought an estimated 80% of U.S. offsets last year. They snapped up offsets to practice trading in carbon in case the United States requires polluters to reduce emissions or pay for the privilege of polluting.

 

"And, of course, they also did it for image."

 

Now if only someone could devise some offsets to counteract some of the damage our economy is suffering as a consequence of too many years living too high on the credit hog.

 

Pete Fehrenbach is managing editor of Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.

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