SAVE US NOW

Tell me, Mr. Summers, do you also consider laws against smoking in enclosed public places “copious busy body regulations?” No. Because unlike consensual sex, or getting your kid a puppy, other people not involved in the choice are negatively affected. “Liberty-loving Americans” have a right not to have their lungs harmed by someone else's choice. So why is your decision to drive a vehicle that produces enormous amounts of smog any different? Emissions have to be regulated to protect the rights of people to breathe clean air. Like cigarette smoke, there is abundant scientific evidence that gas-hogs are harmful to others. Regulations are needed because people and industries don't care if they are harming others. Without regulations, people and companies rake, take, use, and abuse. Whether or not you install a low-flush toilet is not a matter of “personal choice” simply because it takes place in your home. Water shortages affect all of us.

Without regulations there wouldn't be a single old-growth forest left. The 11,000 endangered species would be long gone. The ocean would be empty of life and poisonous. Regulations are neccesary on things that harm our environment because it is not just about you. Regulations are neccesary to protect the right of future generations to an inhabitable planet.

Having 50 investigators take your house apart (like Josh Connole) simply because you kinda-sorta look like a criminal on a security tape is an invasion of privacy. Going to jail for selling water pipes (like Tommy Chong), which not only harm no one, but reduce heat damage from smoking, is an assault on your civil liberties. Saying “you're not going to feed my kid junk food at school everyday” is just being responsible.