Don’t worry, I have every intention of addressing the House Republicans’ foray yesterday into the issue of health insurance reform when I have more time. Suffice it to say that I disagree with their plan to cut health insurance costs, which consists primarily of (a) offering people really crummy health insurance that doesn’t cover things like emergency room visits, cancer screening, and diabetes treatment, and (b) figuring out a way to take all the sickest people’s health insurance away so they aren’t bugging us with their pesky medical bills.

No, today I wanted to highlight a somewhat obscure article from this morning’s Washington Post that makes it clear why it is so important who we elect as Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Earlier this week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency was scheduled to release new limits on the amount of ozone that could be released into the air. The scientists had offered their recommendation, the regulation was written, and the EPA had announced a press conference to reveal the new, tougher environmental standards. Then, according to the Post (you can read the article here), the White House called on Tuesday morning and said something to the effect of “hey, we want you to change this thing to allow some more pollution.” The EPA scrambled, postponed the press conference by five hours, and (over the warnings of the United States Solicitor General) released a different set of ozone standards that allowed for more pollution.

What does this have to do with my race? The very same things can go on at the state level. A lot of the lawmaking that is done in Delaware, including in the environmental area, is done through agency regulations rather than in the General Assembly. Those agencies are headed by people who are appointed by the Governor, and these appointees consult regularly with the Governor and Lieutenant Governor about what they should be doing in their jobs. So the attitude of people like the Governor and Lieutenant Governor about issues such as the environment have a profound and sometimes unseen impact.

Don’t get me wrong–you could play the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” in describing the difference between the environmental attitudes of our state government and the Bush administration. But I have been clear during my campaign that I think our state needs to be even more serious about enforcing the law as it is written against environmental polluters. This article is good evidence of why that is important.