Please sign the petition in the link following this letter to re-instate ONAC! This is the body of the Federal EPA that regulates noise pollution.
Reagan killed funding for EPA’s ONAC in the early 80’s and now communities everywhere are experiencing the effects of what is essentially a kind of “acoustic assault” and “audio terrorism” via a virulent ongoing cacophony of illegally modified exhaust systems (also compromising clean air quality) boom cars, lawn equipment, low flying aircraft, and a host of other sources–all of which can and should be quieted.
Noise issues are affecting us more than many realize as I will note some effects in this letter. But to first address the environmentalists working hard on saving the environment: Isn’t a better, cleaner, healthier environment also entitled to a quieter one? At least it was thought to be at one time when grass roots activists and politicians from both parties worked to create a system of standards for anything that created artificial noise.
Environmentally speaking it may surprise the green movement that noise is among the number one complaint in communities everywhere…and among the top reasons people will move away. So, it is easy to see how left unabated, it can also contribute to habitat and wildlife killing urban sprawl.
But wait…there’s more!…..
Sadly… socially…The louder we become as a nation, the number and dumber we seem to become. So another obvious by product of noise is fostering an ultra numb and idiotic society where “loud” is good. Because of this , police respond to noise complaints daily. In the USA, each month, someone is usually shot, beaten or stabbed over a noise incident not taken seriously by law enforcement. Most of the time, someone tries to ask one who is making noise to “please turn it down… I have to work in the morning and my kids are trying to sleep”….then all of a sudden, the noise offender, says “BLEEP you I will do what the BLEEP I want!” and resorts to violence. Certain noises surely tap into the primal aggressiveness in all of us.
So, there is also worst case turn out crimes that can result from communities NOT taking noise as a serious issue. The pro-noise culture is brought to us by self serving, indulgent individuals who seem to feel they are entitled to use their freedoms any way they wish, no matter who or what it hurts. The collective result of corporate unaccountability paired with social ignorance is destroying citizens quality of life by stealing away the right to reasonable peace and tranquility in one’s own home.
Want to be loud? Be loud on this issue! Keep reading…..
Economically speaking, there are many jobs–AND an economy to be created through achieving QUIET technology, just as their has been in doing the destructive former of imposing LOUD on a helpless population. Are we too stupid in the USA to develop more peaceful communities via quieting down all things mechanical? The obsessive lawn care nut playing with his loud leaf (I mean DIRT blower) for hours chasing a single leaf down the street while stirring a tornado of dust that includes mold, pollen, feces, and other nasties, should help you get the picture of why quiet is important at a neighborly level. (That’s NOT paprika on your potato salad, folks!)
The obsession with loud has me ponder the question…. Have people forgotten the experience of the joy in peace? To think, listen to what the natural world really sounds like? Sadly, even in rural areas these days quite often one cannot escape excessive noise, as those areas are experiencing sources such as loud trucks, chainsaws, ATV’s or even fireworks being =set off by morons who think the 4th of July is a year round event!
As I hinted above about an economy being created by quieting down communities, I feel it is important to mention because pro-noise lobbyists who represent industries such as electronics or after market exhaust companies have–and will do all in their power to thwart national and local efforts to quiet mechanical sources of noise and holding their companies accountable. They have no other function than to protect the corporate interest no matter the cost. The cost of your ignorance results in their profits. They will use the archaic, tired… and appealing-to-the-mental midget banter of “you are going to kill jobs…and deny people’s rights”
Oh really? Meanwhile, they deny your right to peace in your own home and neighborhood! A helpless population most adversely affected by the noise (infants, elders, students needing to study, young and old) is often forced to just live with the noise as city councils and police departments are forced to spend time and money creating new ordinances and fielding a barrage of complaints. Mr. Noise Lobbyist is very effective in getting politicians to smell his ass–and even in convincing them to like it! Yeah, that’s what we’re up against, as crude as that may sound!
You can help!…..
Please help to take back our communities from socially irresponsible/unaccountable corporations and inconsiderate individuals unleashing a torrent of excessive and unregulated noise devices on our communities. Excessive noise, left unabated, contributes to hearing loss, learning disabilities, depression, and other physical ailments. It harms pets and wildlife, and even sets the stage for natural soundscapes we find peaceful like birds, breezes, waves and other calming sounds nature needs to communicate—to become extinct–drowned out by the din of the acoustic sewage!
Again, and lastly, I want to remind that I am hoping to tap into the interests of the the environmental and animal rights movements which have largely missed the boat on this issue and how important it is to creating a kinder, compassionate, and more peaceful society for all living things and the many benefits such can entail. Noise is a public health issue, NOT a mere nuisance. Since the EPA office on noise pollution regulation has virtually been absent since the early 80’s, its little wonder why the public and law enforcement sector by and large lacks an understanding or education as to just how impacting noise is and how it adversely affects communities economically, socially, and environmentally. I call upon all the conscious people to take action.
Please learn more and read about the quiet communities act, or visit websites like Noiseoff Dot Org or Lower The Boom Dot Org to become educated and informed as to what a real problem noise is. You may also email me for a bounty of information sources about the negative impacts of noise. Thank You!
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/reinstate-onac.html
Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 4:27 PM No comments: