Agreed. But, yet, have reasonable regulations and enforce them. We've just gone through 30 years of govt. making regulations ranging from soft to ridiculously overkilling and then leaving it to the industries to self-enfoce. And if and when there are serious situations that force the government to attemtp to enforce, it's always after the fact..after peole are dead and ecosystems and basic proerty and infrastructure are bespoiled if not decimated..Gulf oil, mining accidents, groundater pollution caused by promisciously carried out fracking, etc, etc, Johnstown flood after Johnstown flood.
Leaves a culture where everybody is frustrated and is forced to take extreme positions. On the enviro side, which for all practical purposes is financially powerless so has to become highly rhetorical and beg for coverage of what they have to say, to the larger community of Kochs and BPs etal that has turned rightous indignation into an art form. and has pockets stuffed with bought and paid for politicians and public officials. And to be unapologetically political, since the Clinton and Bush administrations been supplying the staffing for the regulatory agencies.
Did you see the furor that flared up when the current head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had the nerve to attemept to actually do his job ? Nothing all that controversial Seems hejust showed up and actually had the nerve tosay something and the industry blew gasket? (I know...horrible pun when talking about nuke) They were used to having an agnecy head who shoed up, kept quiet, drew his paycheck and let them run things as they pleased.
