In the case of politics, dirt is something the opponent digs up about a candidate.
But, in the case of Republican Governance once they are elected, the word "dirt" turns into a battle cry.
If I may?
Republicans use the word 'dirt' to attack regulation. In the Clean Air Act they repeatedly attacked the regulations in regard to 'dust.' In the Clean Water Act they attack dirt in the water as a reasonable quantity to tolerate and exempt from regulation.
In other instances they are grossly "W"rong.
In the case of The Clean Air Act, and this is something Republicans can't get their minds around because they don't 'believe' in science, DIRT is actually 'particulate matter.' There is definitely particulate matter that endangers the lives of Americans, many of them with lung disease and a large number being children.
The question of dust became an issue, as a political play, in the past two years. Dust on farms, etc. The real culprit in this matter is not so much farms and farming practices, but, urban sprawl. Because of over development of out nation's lands and the housing crisis there are now average people living much closer to farming operations where plowing (especially in drought) causes the air to have high particulate matter. The reason 'dirt' came before the EPA and invoked The Clean Air Act is because THAT IS THE LAW. Where high particulate matter exists where there is a growing populous it is a problem that cannot and should not be ignored.
Ever hear of zoning? Well, the local folks don't take that concept into consideration when allowing contractors to spend a lot of money in their towns and cities so there manifests problems afterwards. The local farmers don't really worry about zoning meetings, don't hire lobbyists and basically accept the fact farm land and wildness gets converted to developments. So, the contractors build where ever their is a remote green area. There are problems with that paradigm both from a farming perspective and wildlife as well. Building homes 'in the woods' brings people and wildlife together.
At any rate, The Clean Air Act has been in effect to protect lungs and people and their property for a long time, so when these issues start to come to light there has to be a re-evaluation by the EPA. Farmers are usually pretty good at controlling dust by the way. They do it for their own families and employees. They use oil or a heavy liquid. They apply it to road surfaces where dust is a problem in relation to carrying dust to their homes and families. They also do things like spread gravel. So, the idea that farm dust isn't noted to be a problem by farmers is not a reasonable idea. Farmers do know it is a problem for even their own families and they seek to minimize it whenever possible. They find more difficult to minimize 'the blowing away of their top soil' during drought conditions. The the particulate designation that impacts 'farm dust' is getting to be more and more difficult to employ because of increasing populous in remote areas and because of drought.
The DIRT in regard to The Clean Water Act is actually managed by The Army Corp of Engineers and it is called SEDIMENT.
Sediment is a broadly defined term of most dirt in the water. Sediment is classified by its 'diameter size.' The collection of sediment in navigable waters to become shallow and an obstruction to shipping. It causes fishing as a tourism economy to disappear because the waters are too shallow for fish to live. There are sincere reasons why DIRT in water is a problem and reviewed by the EPA. Lots of reasons why.
But, in the limited point of view of Republicans whom do not 'believe' in science DIRT seems like a really silly thing to regulate in the air as dust and in the water as sediment. In the case of Rand Paul, he can make money selling political books ridiculing the regulation of DIRT.
That is the long and short of it regarding DIRT and the political mind speak of the Republican Right Wing and it is basically a very dry and boring topic so no one really sees why late night comedians should approach it. DIRT is the topic of scientists. I have not witnessed one scientist successfully taking on the late night comedians.
