Brian's quite remarkable blog of wonder.

Yesterday was Earth Day. Imagine my disdain at reading in the paper that the House passed an energy bill aimed ostensibly at "boosting domestic production;" but basically just includes huge tax breaks for energy companies, provisions for Alaska oil drilling, and a liability waiver for manufacturers of a toxic gasoline additive which contaminates the drinking water of 1,800 communities in 29 states. Attempts by House Democrats to add measures for higher fuel-efficiency requirements for cars, and for stripping that shit about the liability shield from the bill, were to no avail. Here's what really aggravates me:

1) Fuel prices may or may not drop a few cents, but at heart this bill just makes disgustingly wealthy people even more fantastically wealthy, at the expense of the general populace (projected cleanup cost for the gas additive contamination: $29,000,000,000)... not to mention public health.

2) 249 members of the House of Representatives, officials that you and I elected (or, given the usual level of election participation in this country, probably not), thought this was a GOOD, rather than BAD, idea.

3) Nobody cares. All I know about it is from a tiny two-column AP article in my college's newspaper. Most of the media in this country report endlessly on stupid symbolic issues like the Pope and Terri Schiavo. Imagine if corporations are no longer legally responsible for pouring toxins into your drinking water, YOU are in fact responsible for these chemicals, for cleaning them up if they bother you. This issue affects you and I directly a great deal more than Michael Jackson's trial. The environment is, like it or not, THE most important political issue, so why is it that it is not even considered a political issue in this country? Why was the environment mentioned ONCE, briefly, in the three presidential debates (yes, I watched them very closely).

I am very upset. Yesterday I drew this political cartoon.