Paul Cienfuegos was interviewed by Joe Meyer for the KBOO Evening News, about the current toxic air quality situation in parts of Portland that is substantially higher than is considered safe by existing state and federal air quality standards.
Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has been allowing this outrage for many years, but it’s only now becoming known by local residents. Paul explains how the DEQ and all state and federal regulatory agencies are not what the public thinks they are. That in fact, they exist to legalize and normalize certain levels of corporate harm to people and the environment. Paul asks, “Why are We the People allowing these corporate harms in the first place, and why are we expecting a regulatory agency to do the right thing when it was designed to be unaccountable to us?” This interview is 15 minutes long.