Y’know, I’m beginning to like this Chertoff guy…
Voluntary efforts to protect chemical plants from terrorist attacks are inadequate, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has concluded, and Congress should adopt federal standards to do so…
The department envisions a federally enforced scale of protective steps, with the greatest security restrictions imposed on plants deemed the most vulnerable to attack, and on those where a release of chemicals would pose the greatest danger to surrounding communities. [This is similar to Chertoff’s seemingly common-sense approach to homeland security overall — ed.]
Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who is chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee… said Tuesday that the department’s decision was a shift for the Bush administration.
“For the first time,” Ms. Collins said, “the administration is stating clearly before Congress that current laws are not adequate to the task of improving security of chemical plants. Federal legislation is needed…“
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Tom Ridge, as homeland security adviser to President Bush, and Christine Todd Whitman, then administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, pushed for chemical plant safety rules. But the effort stalled, Ms. Whitman has said, after industry objections.
Instead, the industry, led by the American Chemistry Council, set up a voluntary system that encouraged plant owners to conduct self-assessments and take steps to eliminate vulnerabilities: installing security cameras, fences, barriers or other means of controlling access.
But only 1,100 or so of the 15,000 plants with large amounts of dangerous chemicals participated in the voluntary program, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
NEED NATIONAL ID, And GOVERNMENT PLAMT SECURITY.
In the Military we had ID.
Establish list of acceptable consultant companies.
Give companies with appreciable security problems the choice of hiring consultants or proceed with government regulation
In my opinion the greatest chemical threat to health is the effluent of pills and the taught terror of not taking them
Why secure the plants from attack when the operators of those plants are already delivering the deadly chemicals to our local population. What we need is some securing of the waste products from these said chemical factories. Companies blatantly dump it into the environment time and time again, and CEOs get a slap on the wrist and a get out of jail free card. America is poisoning itself not just, iraq and afghanistan. Rocket fuel in our water from negligent military manufacturies, leaking chemical weapons fuel dumps… at least our used nuclear fuel rods get exported, in one shell at a time… yee-haw. Forget about getting attacked these guys are the only terrorists we need to worry about.
Dear voice of “reason,“
Way to stay on topic there, ace. I’ll bet you had a lot of report cards that read, “Cannot stay on task.“
More government interference is a bad thing, however, I know that the security at these plants is below par. The Responsible Care program implemented by the ACC and SOCMA are a step in the right direction, but security is like cancer from cigarettes, everyone believes nothing will happen to them. Additional steps need to be taken in order to secure our freedom that we take for granted. Incentives to companies don’t always work, sometimes legislation has to.
I would like to have a world in which my children feel safe going to school, work or a store. A gas mask really obscures my view of the landscape. Terrorism could make that a reality.
Having never experienced life where terrorism is a reality, such as Israel, you have no idea what it is like to walk into a mall and have your bags searched every single time…not a as matter of being on high alert.
The terrorists don’t hate us merely because we are in their countries, they hate us because of what we represent. Much of what we represent is brought about because of the freedoms that we enjoy as a result of the efforts of soldiers past and present. My honor and respect go out to each and every one of them. Ignorance of who we are and what we represent is what motivates the terrorists and those who hate the US. Ignorance is fostered and taught; until we chnage their thinking, people like bin Laden and al-arqawi will continue to try to find ways to eliminate the “infidels.” That’s you and me and anyone on this soil, o comfortable one.
So, if you really want to take a stand against chemical companies, stop using the products that you take for granted every day. Stop applying makeup, stop driving your car, stop using your cell phone and your PC, both of which contain plastics made by…petrochemical companies. Use that freedom of speech to make a difference instead of spouting tired old rhetoric.
Dd