I have friends who travel to China on a regular basis, and what they tell me
is common place pollution is, well, appalling.

True enough -- but at least they have jobs.

I was once again reminded of the horrendous situation in America's
industrial heartland this weekend, when I traveled to my hometown of
Racine, WI for my 30-year high school class reunion.

Once home to all kinds of heavy industry -- including what was once the
largest tractor plant in the WORLD -- Racine is now a nice,
no-longer-polluted city on the shores of no-longer-polluted Lake
Michigan -- and no one has a decent job. We over-flew the city's once
immense industrial infrastructure, and were stunned to find nothing but
large fields of grass. All the factories are simply gone -- and the
comfortable upper-middle class lifestyle that Racine once enjoyed is
gone, too.

Was this all due to the stingy anti-pollution laws our EPA imposed on
heavy industry in the 1960s and 70s? Of course not. But the rise of
EPA regulations and the decline of Racine's industrial infrastructure
is a straight-line correlation -- so be careful how proud you are of
our vaunted environmental laws. A LOT of hard-working folks have been
thrown into near-poverty at least partially because of them.

On the brighter side, Racine's citizens can now enjoy their beautiful
lakeshore, and are proud to show it off to all the Chicago-area
visitors who now provide them with slightly-above-minimum-wafe
employment in the tourist industry.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"