State governors elected amid the Tea Party fervor are setting about dismantling laws and rules that protect people from environmental pollution, saying they are too burdensome on business.

The Louisiana sand spit called Elmer's island belongs to the state of Louisiana, and is supposed to be open to the public. But guards hired by BP denied a CNN reporter access when he tried to see how the post-spill cleanup was going. BP and its contractor say the secrecy is to protect equipment, but the only equipment is rakes. BP says the area is accessible to the public even though it isn't. The U.S. Coast would not return CNN's calls.

As recently permitted oil companies turned in their plans for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, environmental groups said the plans fall short of what is needed to prevent another blowout and pollution incident like the Deepwater Horizon well.

"Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005-2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday."

"Levels of radioactive materials have risen sharply again in seawater near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan, raising the possibility of new leaks at the complex, the government said Saturday."

EPA and Justice Department officials in the Obama administration are putting more emphasis on environmental justice  -- an effort to reduce the greater hazards faced by poor and minority communities. But that job is not easy, especially in the face of industry resistance.