Red-Tape Pollution

Don’t miss the wake. The Escondido Recycling Yard auctioned its assets Tuesday. It was your opportunity to pick over the carcass of another business destroyed by government regulation.

Noted for its capacity, efficiency and cleanliness, the yard had a buyer two days after it closed. However, he soon discovered that it would take him three months just to complete all of the paperwork necessary to comply with government regulations. Being smarter than your average voter, he decided against stepping into the quagmire of regulations that engulf businesses today.

The only remaining recycling yard recently moved to Quince Street. It took me nearly 45 minutes to recycle my aluminum and glass scrap. They would not take cardboard or steel. They negotiated me down to $0.01 per pound of aluminum because it was not perfectly free of steel. What choice did I have but to accept? This is the last recycling yard in town.

In virtually every case, the claims made by the environmentalists have turned out to be false or simply absurd. Lake Erie mercury, acid lakes, Alar, dioxin, TCE and Three Mile Island radiation toxicity and the celebrated ozone “hole” are among the many ways the “greens” have scared us into supporting their Socialist agenda: government control of business.

WILLIAM T. HOLMES

San Diego