Vernon Ehlers: “Well, in fact, everyone consumes peanut butter, and that is why it has not been banned. It is a food staple for so many…”

“Well, in fact, everyone consumes peanut butter, and that is why it has not been banned. It is a food staple for so many people. I am simply pointing out that what we have to do is analyze the risks in every situation and prioritize the risks. There is a great deal of concern, of course, in our Nation about toxic waste, but yet, if you analyze in a hard-headed manner what really are the environmental risks we have today, what is the highest environmental risk, you are likely to find that there are many things other than improper disposal of waste that are higher up on the list. For example, urban sprawl with its destruction of habitat, and destruction of habitat of course is key in the endangerment of species, and that leads to something that my colleague from Maryland sitting here is an expert on, the Endangered Species Act. These are all very, very complex issues. We have to look at all aspects of these and recognize precisely what the problems are, and what the dangers are, and what this leads to, as my final point in this list before I summarize, and that is what we need is common sense regulation.”