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The cartoon depicts Perry at a lecturn touting...Come to Texas, business is Booming..a banner behind him says...Low Tax-Low Regs[I'm including a description case the toon is copyright protected]. A side panel depicts the West, Tx explosion.
Rick is fumming, he wants Ohman fired. Even Greg Abbott, TxAG, wants action.
Is the Cartoon disrespectful to West, Perry, or is it Free Speech?
I can't believe people would take an explosion that killed so many people, including first responders, and view it as an occasion to mock with cartoons and political humor.
It seems that Perry should be outraged at the explosion and not the cartoon. What is Perry doing to prevent another explosion from occurring in his state?
The regulations are in place, and have BEEN in place for decades. It's up to federal and state inspectors, and business owners and managers, to be responsible and enforce those regulations.
The town is West Texas, not Waco. If you're going to throw out a diatribe at least get the town name right.
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Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
LOL maybe she's referring to the Branch Davidians!
I already stated that I was thinking of where the memorial was held. Do you find it funny that TheMore failed to name the town correctly? No problem with that, right?
This is the entire point of this cartoon. Rick Perry will overlook/allow companies to do just about anything they want so that he can say "we created x number of jobs!" Scott Walker is doing the same in WI.
There are very strict state AND federal regulations regarding the storage of ammonium nitrate in Texas. This facility was not honest, apparently, about the amount of that material being stored here.
From a good article on this issue:
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One week after the blast, investigators were still not sure how much ammonium nitrate was stored there, whether it had been stored properly and which agencies had been informed about it — even though a host of federal, state and local officials were responsible for regulating and monitoring the plant’s operations and products.
And:
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“The whole thing may have fallen through a number of regulatory cracks,†said a federal official whose agency helped regulate the plant.
And:
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A tangle of agencies regulates plants like the one in West. Different agencies were assigned oversight for different chemicals there. Among the federal agencies responsible were the E.P.A., Homeland Security, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. State agencies include the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state chemist’s office and the state health services department.
Under the Clean Air Act, the E.P.A. requires companies like West Fertilizer to file risk management plans when they use or store sizable quantities of anhydrous ammonia. In a 2011 filing, the plant said it had 54,000 pounds of that chemical. But the E.P.A. does not require those plans to include whether a facility uses or stores ammonium nitrate. In 2002, the federal Chemical Safety Board recommended to the E.P.A. that it broaden those risk management plans to include volatile hazardous chemicals similar to ammonium nitrate. That recommendation was never acted upon.
OSHA officials, meanwhile, acknowledged that they had last inspected the plant 28 years ago. Agency officials said the plant did not fall into its priority categories based on prior inspections, a lack of worker complaints and because it was not classified as high risk by the E.P.A.
Inspectors with the Texas Feed and Fertilizer Control Service, however, had made at least 35 visits to the plant since 2006, including one on April 5, 12 days before the blast. That agency regulates aspects of the fertilizer industry as part of the state chemist’s office, and oversees the sale of ammonium nitrate in the state. The state chemist, Tim Herrman, said the law prohibits him from disclosing information about the 115 facilities that hold permits to sell ammonium nitrate in Texas.
Paul Orum, a consultant on chemical safety, said a major shortcoming in the system of regulating chemical plants is the reliance on self-reporting. If a company like West Fertilizer fails to file a required report or misreports the risks it faces, it is often hard for agencies, with their budgetary constraints and overstretched staffs, to catch such errors. In its 2011 Risk Management Plan filed with the E.P.A., West Fertilizer did not check the box saying the plant might face a risk of fire or explosion.
I already stated that I was thinking of where the memorial was held. Do you find it funny that TheMore failed to name the town correctly? No problem with that, right?
West is the name of the town and I called it West but it is not in West Texas, when did I say anything but that?
It seems that Perry should be outraged at the explosion and not the cartoon. What is Perry doing to prevent another explosion from occurring in his state?
Nothing. Probably trying to come up with another dumb tort reform bill to stop the injured from being able to collect much in damages.
Its both but very disrespectful. Imagine if the cartoon had Boston or 9/11 there would be outrage in America. That cartoonist maybe exercising free speech but definitely being rude to the families and friends who lost firefighters trying to keep water on the plant so the city could have time to evacuate.
Reminds me day after Boston Bombings a Canadian friend posted this comment on his FB wall it's kinda rude but not cruel.
I agree with this. It's free speech but it's in poor taste.
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