Republicans Back Polluters In Senate Bill

Most large Texas cities are having a problem with pollution these days, and a lot of that pollution is from large industries that have located themselves outside of those cities to avoid being regulated.

This is a problem that should have been taken care of by our state government. But the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, controlled by Republicans, has been unwilling to deal with the problem. They don't seem to care about the filthy air being breathed by millions of Texans, as long as their buddies in industry can continue to make windfall profits.

Mayor White of Houston has had enough of this and proposed a solution. He was planning to bring nuisance charges against these industries outside the city limits who send tons of pollution into Houston every day.

But if there's anything the Republicans are good at, it's protecting their corporate "sugar-daddies" from having to be responsible for their actions. Republican Senator Mike Jackson of La Porte has introduced a bill that would prevent cities from acting to protect themselves from this pollution. That bill passed the Senate today.

Jackson says it's a matter of city sovereignty. What he really means is it's a matter of corporate sovereignty. Republicans should be ashamed of themselves. Once again they have put corporate profits and campaign donations above the health of the citizens of Texas.

We must vote these evil men out of office in 2008, and put some people in state government who will take action to clean the air that all Texans must breathe.