And there is little evidence that we are such. Consider environmental regulation - one of the major areas of disagreement between Clinton and Congress. Few of those seeking to weaken environmental regulations seem to remember the day the Cuyahoga River ignited twenty-five years ago. That shocking incident was the catalyst for new laws to protect our common environment. The new Republicans must come to recognize that while there are excesses and folly in some of the ways environmental laws are enforced, the laws themselves are essential.
Matters pertaining to the environment almost never favor anything in the short term.
In very small steps it appears that the fundamental change of thinking required for critical environmental protection is happening among many Americans, regardless of their political affiliation. The fear, however, is that in the headiness of newly-attained power, the new Republicans seeking the favor of industrialists who help put them in their seats will allow them to change old laws or make new laws. Those who will benefit financially from less regulation are not the ones to determine the validity of such regulation. Our lawmakers must not allow those with vested interests to call the shots regardless of what obligation they may feel. If our elected officials cannot block from their ears the raucous voice of money and hear the soft pleadings of the land from which true wealth is attained, then we are in for a new round of environmental devastation.