TOXMAP - All Facilities
Well this is fairly depressing. Check out how you are being exposed to toxins in your area. And these are just the ones that report!
I believe that environmental concerns are certainly one of our top issues because I believe that evolution has given us bodies that are designed for a certain kind of environment and when we alter that substantially, our bodies do not really know what to do (my other top issue is oil which I feel undermines our economy, foreign policy, environment and is a general choke point for everything we do). The interesting thing about this map is that I'm not very concerned about the organizations you see there. They're reporting, and theoretically observing, local standards. The real problem comes in John Q. Public's garage. Johnny goes out and decides to paint his armoire. First, he strips the original paint, which a couple of flecks get into the lawn. Then he primes the wood and a few ounces evaporate. Finally, he paints the wood and a couple of drops roll down the driveway and into the gutter. Super super small, but if you multiply this times 1,000 people doing it a week, you have gallons and gallons of crap flowing into the system. It seems clear to me that identifying the risks at the beginning of the system, when everything is concentrated, is the only way to make substantial progress. In this case, encouraging paint companies to design environmentally friendly paint would be one way to try and eliminate the risks in the above example.
