On O'Malley's new poultry regulations

So much discussion of this just comes across to me as blaming it on ignorant farmers who hate the environment, rather than looking at them as strictly controlled franchise operators who get very little money but all the liability. This is a systemic issue of bosses passing on operational costs to workers, the environment, and local residents.

O'Malley refuses to tax the industry itself and threatened to veto the Poultry Fair Share Act, which would make the industry pay its own stormwater fee (it currently doesn't). The endorsement for the Iowa caucus. If big poultry wasn't secretly on board with all this, it wouldn't be happening. Because making it all about farmers vs. the environment sows division and mistrust. The liability for poultry waste was passed on to farmers on purpose, because the industry leaders knew that holding individual farmers accountable for this wake makes environmentalism on the Eastern Shore a class issue, with white collar families, wealthy retirees, and suited Annapolis folk on one side, and hard working farmers who have mouths to feed on the other.

In addition, forcing all Maryland households to subsidize the cleanup of this waste while not forcing the big companies to pay a penny has contributed to anti-environmentalism across the state.

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