WUI (Writing under the influence)

The Oregonian and other lefties don't like the taste of their own medicine.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, as you know. And it can also spook giant federal bureaucracies into acting against common sense.

So it's not surprising that the Environmental Protection Agency has, thus far, turned down Portland's request for exceptional treatment. The city has asked the EPA for a waiver from upcoming federal drinking water rules.

The EPA first told City Commissioner Dan Saltzman no. Then it told Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., no. Now Mayor Tom Potter is gearing up to ask again for a variation on EPA's rules (he's not going to use the word "waiver"). But some say Potter will get the same response because consistency dictates that the EPA turn Portland down.

Nonsense.

The rules, which the EPA expects to issue this summer, require unfiltered water systems, like Portland's, to filter or otherwise aggressively counteract cryptosporidium. That's the microbial parasite that made headlines in 1993, when it killed about 100 people in Milwaukee, Wis., and sickened 400,000.

If we believed cryptosporidium posed a threat to Portland water drinkers, we'd be the first to urge that a filtration or treatment plant be built, no matter how costly. Portland's unique Bull Run water, derived from a rain- and snow-fed reservoir near Mount Hood, is well worth protecting. If cryptosporidium jeopardized its purity, the cost to purify it would be a secondary issue.

Maybe. But now you know how we, on the other side, feel when idiotic regulations make our lives a living hell.

If the "Check Engine" light is on even in a relatively new car, DEQ will not test the car for emissions but instead it will fail it. The light could be on for any number of reasons not at all related to emissions. But the regulations say that the light has to be off. So the owner has to pay good money for a mechanic to remove the code that causes the light to be on; sometimes the light is on because it is faulty and there is nothing wrong with the car. If the goal of the test is to make sure that cars don't pollute air more than they really have to, do the damn test and disregard the stupid light.

I say, stick it to Portland. Most rigid, tree-hugging enviro wackos live there so let them pay through the nose for the regulations we all have to live with.

BTW, I don't believe that DEQ tests are to really test for high emissions. New cars are pretty clean and the owners of the older cars are too poor to either fix them or get better ones. I think this is all about money. But then I always think government is there to suck us dry.