Show THE VOICE OF BUSINESS Ji lOr Hl-HUH 1 CHI CI 1 IJ L. I of Commerce of United Stair We are constantly reminded by en- how grateful we should be for trees and other greenery because of all the nice things they do for our air I hope it will come as a con- shock to these to learn that our air quality laws are now so extreme that compliance with them can actually require cutting It works like Say you want to build a new coastal port facility to bring in Alaskan oil help solve the energy This facility would have to be located in what the Environmental Pro- Agency calls a because of high dant levels in the tir Since the new port might make some small contribution to the it cannot be built until the amount of pollution that it will add is by a greater reduction in existing sources ot pollution in the In an urban the required offset may be achieved by measures such as buying up and closing down sources of hydrocarbon emissions which come like gasoline stations and art expedient for those who need the services of these establishments But As a matter of most bon emissions in our coastal areas come from swamps and mar- all high in ecologists' obtaining an offset to build your port may require cutting down a grove of or filling in a Lest anyone think me excessively I want to make it very clear that this situation has actually oc- in full compliance and because the laws of the United States of The case I have described involves just one of the c. edair There are five of And a area is one of many each of which has slightly different As you might when you put it all it is difficult to find any part of the country that is not in some way threatened by EPA's regulatory For we usually associate pollution with heavily industrialized But the biggest particulate problem is out on the midwestern plains where wind- storms whip up natural dust Oddly EPA will allow for the natural pollution of dust in the but will not allow for the natural pollution of vegetable hydrocarbons The net result is a that overprotects gives environmental considerations primacy over social and economic con- treats differing parts of the country and actually en- destruction of the environ- ment to the I modestly suggest that a form of pollution generated in abundance by nature cannot pose a substantial threat to otherwise we would long since have vanished from the the ecological cost of trying to suppress such pollution is quite likely to surpass whatever damage it And if you concede these two then J development that would at a miniscule addition to whatever mother nature is pumping into the The complexities and contradictions of our pollution control regulations are far greater than I am able to convey in this they be Invoked in or issues like while the accompanying excesses and red tape remain hidden from the typical citizen until local enforcement begins most ot us Mill have to look forward |