Environmental Idiotarianism

Via Glenn, this is simply asinine:

I’m going to make a sweeping pronouncement, a real doozy. Are you ready? Here goes: Disposable batteries, no matter how efficient, should be considered a controlled substance and, as such, should be sold under the same restrictions as, say, prescription drugs or guns.

So, yes, in my ideal world, a four-year-old would have an easier time scoring a pack of smokes and a bottle of Jack than you or I would have buying a four-pack of AA Duracells. Now before any of you free-market zealots and libertarians out there get your freedom-panties in a bunch, hear me out.

I too am going to make a sweeping announcement, dude, you're an idiot! This genius just doesn't get it. Yes, alkaline batteries contain zinc, some hydroxide and other substances, but so so many other batteries such as the one that powers the computer of Mr. Chase. Lest not we forget, there are harmful products in many useful household items ranging from smoke detectors to TV's, should we limit the public ability to buy them as well?

Mr. Chase makes the point that we throw these batteries into landfills where they "leach" into groundwater, etc. Has Chase even once googled landfills to see how they are constructed and the regulations that govern them? If he had, he may well have noted that we don't just throw our trash in an unlined pit anymore, we have an aggressive regulatory framework in place that would preclude the dire events he bitches about from happening.

Typical nanny-statism