Mediaboss Marketing

In this year of endless political campaigning, youve heard more than your share of rhetoric about those pesky, bureaucratic, business-constipating, job-killing government regulations.

You can probably recite the pitch: Its time to cut through the red tape and stop the madness for the good of our economy.

Were not a big fan of regulation for the sake of regulation. As a business, we know very well how regulation can add to the cost of doing business.

But lets not be nave or foolish.

The folks in Adams County have a pretty good understanding of why regulation is important to health and safety. So do the folks in Marshall, Mich.

The link between the two?

An oil spill involving Enbridge Energy.

Last week, a federal agency told Enbridge that it must submit a plan and receive approval before restarting operation of a 470-mile oil pipeline that ruptured in Adams County, spilling 1,200 barrels of oil into a field, according to a report in the Wisconsin State Journal, a sister publication.

Two homeowners were displaced and a section of road was closed during repair work, which is expected to cost at least $2 million. Crews were testing for groundwater contamination.

As Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said: Pipelines operate safely across the country every single day. Thats why accidents, like the one in Wisconsin, are absolutely unacceptable.

Continued here:
Our View: Regulation not always a dirty word