Let down by Upton

Published 11:43 pm Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dear editor:

I read with disappointment Monday (Sept. 5) on the Star’s website of Congressman Upton’s enthusiasm that President Obama has once again compromised his principles and caved to the pressure of the Republicans and Tea party.
This time Obama agreed to stop the scheduled improved clean air standards from going into effect. Upton, as the new chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, applauds this as potentially saving businesses $90 billion.
What Upton fails to mention is that the EPA’s 2009 analysis estimated up to 12,000 lives per year could be saved by adopting the new standards as opposed to leaving the Bush era standards in place. They also forecast decreases in asthma and other respiratory diseases, especially for infants, children and the elderly, leading to reduced health care costs.
Additionally, if you were to rephrase Upton’s words to look at the $90 billion cost as an investment in improved infrastructure, it is easy to conclude that this would create jobs, thus helping the economy.
Interesting to think, that as we remember the approximately 3,000 Americans killed on Sept. 11, that our government has decided that it is OK for four times as many to die each year so corporations won’t have to take on the burden of meeting stricter requirements.

Dan Vandenheede
Niles