If your child is sick, your party affiliation is moot.

Greetings.

I have become concerned that I am doing a poor job of making my point, the point that resulted in this blog.  As the parents of sick kids, we have a very specific set of concerns that exists regardless of whether we are a Republicans or a Democrats. 
Learn about the issues that impact your child's health and vote accordingly. 

Your cause supersedes and transcends such trivial philosophies as the redistribution of wealth, size of government, military vs. social spending . . . Okay, those aren't trivial.  But just because your party of choice falls on a particular side of an issue doesn't mean that you must also fall in, lock-step, with that point of view.  In fact, your input, with your personal stake in the outcome, carries a lot of weight.  Especially if you're a card-carrying, loyal party member who disagrees with the party position.  Trust me, they won't kick you out of the club.

So please, if you haven't considered calling your senators about the McConnell amendment, please do so.  You can locate yours by visiting http://www.congress.org/ and entering your zip code in the search box.  There are links to your senators' contact info.  You can call or email, even find them on FaceBook . . . if you want to hear firsthand what your senator's position is on this issue, ask to speak to one of the aides.  (You're not going to be talking to any senators, so don't get nervous.  It's not bad.)  Not every Democrat is opposed to delaying clean air regulation!  Not every Republican believes that we have to completely castrate the EPA in order to enhance the business climate!  We're realists.  A compromise is necessary. 

We all want clean air.  But the statement "we all want clean air"  doesn't really cover what's truly at stake.  There are very real economic costs of mercury pollution.  Consider the effect of mercury on cognitive function.  "The reduced productivity from just one pollutant, mercury, found in hundreds of thousands of children's bodies at levels that cause loss of intelligence, costs our nation at least $2.2 billion and as much as $43.8 billion annually.  If the cumulative effects of environmental toxicants reduce the average American's IQ by just one IQ point, the annual cost to society would come to $50 billion and the lifetime societal costs to trillions."  (from Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on our Children, Philip and Alice Shabecoff.)  The mercury load in our environment is growing at a rate consistent with the surge in neurodegenerative diseases, including autism; mercury is a proven neurotoxicant.  Is there a connection?  Maybe, maybe not.  But maybe.  And mercury concentrations are higher in kids than in adults - 1.7 times higher in umbilical cord blood than in the mother's blood at the time of birth, evidencing that kids don't excrete this toxin as well as adults do.  That little bit of information came from a senior EPA scientist, according to the Shabecoffs . . . we want our kids to breathe clean air, right?  We all want the mercury levels in our environment to remain stable rather than increasing, right?  So don't let them sell you their clean-air-or-economic-ruination argument.  There is a middle ground, and the hardliners deserve to lose the argument.  Status quo may be the best bet, for now.

We cannot risk losing any ground here. 

I support Senator Stabenow's alternative.  It would delay the imposition of the new regulations for another two years, which is unfortunate, but would also offer tax incentives to those who move ahead with the changes.  It doesn't take away all of the EPA's "power"  (not that the EPA is powerful in any real sense, but it's all we have.)  It just adds more time to the compliance timeline.  Maybe that's the only feasible option in this climate right now.  And we know all about choosing from a menu of unattractive options, don't we? 

And Stabenow's is not the only option.  And frankly, you don't need to promote one:  just say "No" to the McConnell Amendment and we'll see what shakes out. 

Call, email, message on FaceBook.

Let's face it:  we are going to need the EPA.  (It's interesting to note that while the McConnell amendment does away with the EPA, there's no provision for an alternative agency oversight.  Sure, it's pro-business . . . feels kinda third-world to me, though.)  So muster up your inner activist and make the call.  Write a script if you've got stage fright.

Don't vote GOP.  And don't vote "climate change" either. 

Vote Parent.

Thanks for your careful consideration of this matter, and sorry for the hasty, poorly-edited post, but the clock is ticking.