DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!

I received an e-mail from Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson in response to a request that she
promote enforcement of the clean air and water acts. Her response was that Congress must look at the big picture and not cause job loss by "crippling a sector." They, Congresspersons, need to find incentives so businesses will follow the law.
I appreciated the polite, measured response, but have a few questions: Does anyone give you or me an incentive to cause no harm to others? Are we given tax breaks for caring for our land, disposing of our trash properly, recycling? I've never gotten a penny.
Does providing jobs or even energy mean you can break or ignore a fair, purposeful law? Is it right that the law doesn't apply to the most extreme offenders?

I think Congress needs to look at THE REALLY BIG PICTURE-and that includes business threatening lawmakers with what will happen if they (drillers, captains of industry) are compelled to obey the law. Allowing industry to pollute has gotten us where we are now - still in the ongoing energy crisis but now facing a possible water crisis in Texas and other states, as well. I don't mean to be insensitive to job loss, but loss of safe water in itself is a pretty big threat to many people-like half of Texas! (Just as troubling is loss of water because of the millions of gallons constantly in use in fracking.)

The big picture might also include taking a look at the myriad of ways industries circumvent laws now. In fact, this task might prove extremely valuable.
The more I think about this, the more I see a moral issue-especially in the oil/gas
environmental destruction issue. Who is the clear victim? Who is due protection? Senator H seems to want to protect "the sector" most of all. Good luck, Senator - as it seems to me the sector is contributing to its own downfall and must clean up its act to survive - even as politicians try valiantly to protect all the money, energy and jobs drilling provides.

Life is filled with hard choices and we humans tend to stay in the middle, riding the fence, pleasing everyone as long as we can.
But if our water and air are really and truly in danger, someone in a position of leadership needs to hop off the fence.
And we will call that person "governor," I'll just bet.
Once she knows what's true, a true leader must act.

By the way, I hear from my friends and family that the candidate from Wharton, Debra Medina, is really impressive.
I'm Googling her views on the environment today!
Which candidate, liberal or conservative, understands simple right and wrong, and will stand up for safety and fairness to landowners against a drilling industry that says it can bring 300,000 jobs to Texas? Is there one?

Those who study Texas history soon realize that our ancestors fought and won wars against wealthy folks who wanted to take over, get rich off the resources of our land, and impact the rights and freedoms of the farmer and rancher.
So - just some free advice: Don't mess with Texas, don't mess it up, then fail to clean it up. And don't mess with blogging rural women protecting their homes.