Secular Right

During the Bush years, the Democrats aggressively played terror porn one-upmanship.  They grandstanded over the Dubai ports deal and demanded that all U.S.-bound cargo containers be screened for nuclear weapons (a grossly unnecessary measure) and that the chemical industry be subjected to even more stringent regulation, just in case a plant or chemical shipment get commandeered by terrorists.  The pressing need to out tough the Republicans has passed, and yet the push for ever more burdensome anti-terror regulations continues—often as a transparent pretext for the Democrats’ hoary anti-business agenda:

The House passed legislation that would give the government the authority to force companies to replace chemicals that terrorists could use in attacks with safer alternatives.

Suddenly, the NRDC and Sierra Club have a new calling: protectors of homeland security.  I have not seen the bill, but I would bet that it is not accompanied by a shred of analysis regarding the presence of terrorists in this country with the inclination and ability to exploit industrial chemicals or how the costs of retooling our industrial processes compare to the costs and likelihood of a chemical attack.