Un-American Politicians and Corporations

Latest members of the group of politicians with dollar signs in their eyes. U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (R), freshman from Colorado, is working for the welfare of Big Oil over the welfare of our environment by blocking efforts to combat climate change and promote renewable energy, taking funds away from land cleanups and conservation, and weakening the Environmental Protection Agency. His voting record clearly defines him as a protector of tax breaks for big oil.

Tipton joins Big Oil’s collection of politicians, along with his fellow Republican congressmen Cory Gardner and Doug Lamborn, who repeatedly vote against the environment simply to support a pro-polluter agenda.

This country needs oil. At least for now. This country also needs safe drinking water and breathable air. Congress must work on a balanced agenda of protecting business while protecting its citizens. They must not favor one over the other.

Subsidies to corporations that are raking in huge profits is unethical and unsustainable to this nation’s well-being.

One of the foundations of a moral and ethical society is that if you do the damage you clean up the mess.

Politicians, corporations and conservative media are so against any effort that appears to threaten their ability to make money that they will spend their precious dollars to combat all groups - who only want to help their fellow Americans not be poisoned - rather than work with these groups in an effort to keep everyone happy.

Their version of ‘share the wealth’ is to pay lawyers to prevent being held accountable for the environmental damage they have caused.

This is so very Un-American.

Lead Shot Still Approved for Bird Hunting

Iowa Legislature has decided that a 100 year ban on hunting Doves is long enough. Beginning Sept 1 of this year hunters will be given the legal right to kill these song birds once again.

I’m not a fan of killing animals for sport. The old argument hunters use to justify it being “it helps nature keep the population down so they don’t starve to death from over-growing their food source” just sounds so self-serving. Nature has been able to keep this ‘balance’ for millennia before man ever came onto the scene and took almost all of that food source away.

Anyway the purpose of this post lies in the shot used to hunt these animals. Apparently, lead is still being used in shotgun shells. If you have ever dissected a shotgun shell you will notice it is filled with pellets of varying sizes. About the same size and shape as bird feed and scratch that birds eat. Once the lead gets into their tiny bodies and they get eaten by birds of prey, etc and so on, you know the chain. Lead has been taken out of paint and gasoline due to its well known toxicity. Why not bird shot?

It took me by surprise to learn that lead is being scattered throughout the country side where it can be eaten by wild animals, or leeched into the waterways affecting aquatic life. To be fair to hunters, there are quite a few who are concerned enough for the environment that they will pay the extra 4 cents per shell to avoid lead. But there are many more who just don’t care. Given the fact that they eat the few forkfuls of meat a song bird provides and the lead gets into their own bodies as well as the bodies of the family, one would think this would be enough to wake them up to the fact they are poisoning themselves. Spend the extra 4 cents.

The Iowa legislature had the opportunity to ban shells of lead shot but turned it down. Why? Only they know, but lead is still being scattered about without regard to how it affects our food chain.

Just thought you would want to know.