Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we have heard the same theme over and over from our Republican friends: We need time, give us time. The EPA is rushing this. Well, how much time do they need to fix a problem that is forcing children to put on these inhalers? How much time do they need to enforce a rule that is keeping people from dying prematurely; that is keeping them from getting heart attacks? Here is the deal. In 1997, several States went to the EPA and said: Something is really wrong. We have kids like this gasping for air, and the air pollution isn't coming from our State. It is coming from the States to the west of us. Now, I want to make it clear that my State of California doesn't have a dog in this fight. We are not involved in this. We don't pollute. We don't have a lot of coal-powered plants. And we are in the far west. Frankly, having that ocean along our State helps us. We have plenty of air pollution, but we are not getting it from another State to our west. So I stand here speaking, frankly, as a Senator who cares about clean air, who cares about the public health, and who also sees this as a moral issue. I have said this every way I can say it. It is immoral to take poison and put it on someone else's front yard. It is immoral to walk away from your responsibility, particularly if you have a truck to put it in and take it away. Well, we have the technology to make cleaner utilities, to make cleaner power.…”