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You don't want to have to ask every day whether an industry plans to change what comes out of its smokestacks in your area, do you? Far preferable is what happens now: Your local newspaper lets you know if something of that nature is in the offing. You don't have to ask.
That will change in some situations if the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has its way.
Those seeking to install equipment that emits pollutants into the air in our state must obtain permits from the DEP. If they plan to make changes to that equipment, they have to go back to the agency for new permits.
Any time that happens, notices must be published in your local newspaper. Chances are that most of the times you have seen such notices, you were not looking for them. They were news to you -- and perhaps a reason for you to let the DEP know how you feel.
DEP officials have proposed a change in the rules. In certain circumstances, such notices would not have to be published in newspapers. They would be posted on the DEP website instead.
So the information would be there, but only for those looking constantly for it. And, of course, there would be the concern about how the DEP posted such notices -- easy to find or buried several layers within the website.
Think of it this way: If you read newspapers, do you look at each edition with the intent of finding the air pollution permit notices in it? Of course not.
But if the DEP has its way, that is the only way you will know in advance about plans for new or different air pollution in your area -- by going virtually every day to the agency's website and looking for notices.
DEP officials know all this. Why, then, do they want to make a change that would keep the public partially in the dark about air pollution?
It is a good question, to which we suspect you know the answer.