Patrick Takes Out The Trash

Today’s Bucks County Courier Times tells us that Patrick Murphy, working with Bensalem, PA solicitor Joseph Pizzo, is trying to pass the Clean Railroads Act which would close a long-existing loophole in federal law that “(allows) rail companies to run roughshod over state and local laws and the will of a community,” as Patrick stated in the Courier Times article here.

Patrick has actually been fighting the planned waste transfer station in Bensalem that would be allowed under the loophole for some time, as noted here where he stated his opposition in July along with State Rep. Joe DiGirolamo and Bensalem Mayor Gene DiGirolamo (both Repugs, by the way - sorry the link is flaky).

The loophole in question was an oversight from the Interstate Commerce Commission Act of 1995, and in addition to Patrick, Dem House Rep. Joseph Pallone of New Jersey is trying to pass the Clean Railroads Act for much the same reasons as Patrick (noted here, with Pallone receiving help from Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez, both Dems of course, as also noted here).

Best wishes to one and all in their efforts (and to help Patrick, click here).

And by the way, in a related vein, here is a set of links to sites advocating environmental consciousness and responsibility; I know I neglected to mention that Monday was Blogger Environmental Action day - sorry - so I'm trying to make up for that here.