Bring back asbestos - what a great idea

One of the most dangerous construction-related carcinogens is now legally allowed back into U.S. manufacturing under a new rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Fast Company recently reported that on June 1, the EPA authorized a “SNUR” (Significant New Use Rule) which allows new products containing asbestos to be created on a case-by-case basis.

  AN

Jesus, what were all those lawsuits involving severely damaged lungs for?

And, by "case-by-case basis" I assume they mean whoever can pay (or has already bribed) EPA officials sufficiently.  If we were approaching third world status slowly before Trump, we are making up for lost time, repealing consumer and environmental protections and allowing government officials to drain taxpayer coffers into their personal pockets.

In May, the EPA released a report detailing its new framework for evaluating the risk of its top prioritized substances. The report states that the agency will no longer consider the effect or presence of substances in the air, ground, or water in its risk assessments.

What in Hell?? What's left? In flesh?  And, if it's demonstrable that a person has an illness or dies from asbestos exposure, will they be able to sue for damages?  We've been through this already. WTF?

Asbestos was widely used in building insulation up until it was banned in most countries in the 1970s. The U.S. is one of the only developed nations in the world that has placed significant restrictions on the substance without banning it completely. New data revealed that asbestos-related deaths now total nearly 40,000 annually, with lung cancer and mesothelioma being the most common illnesses in association with the toxin. That number could rise if new asbestos-containing products make their way into new buildings.

It won't make its way into homes of the assholes who are permitting its use again. Bet.

HBN’s Board President Bill Walsh said that the chlor-alkali industry is the only industry in the country that still uses asbestos, reportedly importing about 480 tons of the carcinogen each year from Russia and Brazil.

[...]

As the world’s largest exporter of asbestos, the Russian company Uralasbest operates an enormous open mine nearly half the size of Manhattan in a mountainous town 900 miles northeast of Moscow.

Aha. Now I get it. Trump's masters have decreed that we should buy their toxic products.

The company has support from the government and President Vladimir Putin, even though their economic success exposes the local residents to major health risks. Once referred to as “the dying city,” Asbest’s residents have reported the carcinogenic dust is often found as a thick film over garden vegetables, laundry lines, and even on the floors of their homes.

The proletariat is expendable.

Trump has long been vocal about his skepticism on the harmful effects of asbestos, citing in his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback, that anti-asbestos efforts were “led by the mob.”

Sure. You know - the mob that cares about environmental and human health issues.  I'll tell you what's "led by the mob" - the Trump cabal.

Caveat emptor, people.



Jesus wept.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.