The master of pollution

You've probably heard this before but, in case you haven't, what's currently the biggest source of pollution in the State of Washington?

It's our very own, home grown, Mount St. Helens:

Since the volcano began erupting in early October, it has been pumping out 50 to 250 tons a day of sulfur dioxide, the lung-stinging gas that causes acid rain and contributes to haze.

Those emissions are so high that if the volcano were a new factory, it probably couldn't get a permit, Clint Bowman, an atmospheric physicist for the Washington Department of Ecology, told The Seattle Times.

Of course, it's all really the fault of Bush, the Republicans, and their big-business cronies. I propose renaming the mountain to Mount St. Halliburton.

Seriously, though, I do acknowledge that mankind is capable of seriously damaging the environment and I'm all for reducing pollution where feasible. But I'm not for crippling our economy to reach past the point of diminishing returns. Just think of how much crap was spewed into the air by Mount St. Helens when it blew its top on May 18, 1980 but the local environment and ecology handled it just fine.