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And while you're there, be sure and breathe in the plumes of North Texas' very own Ship Channel.

Midlothan's three cement plants and steel mill, which produce HALF of all industrial air pollution in the region are just a stone's throw away to the south and usually the Park is downwind of all three.

I sure wish everyone moving down here for some of that there North Texas Hill Country living would understand they're moving to the North Texas Pittsburgh instead.

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Megan-

Glad to know y'all city slickers at the DO are taking in some nature- it is great that we have such a wonderful asset so close to the city. No, it's not the Rockies, but the, neither is Texas, so we natives have come to truly appreciate our scenic vistas (and here I think that Big Bend is the most beautiful place on earth- it takes some getting used to , and even though people always try to compare it to other places like, oh, say, the Rockies, for examples, it's a different kind pf special. Glad you got to learn how we in North Texas can appreciate the nature we have.

Which brings me to my next point: Debbie Downer, er I mean, Brown Bess, would you suggest people just stay home, inside their air-conditioned houses instead? The DFW region is the 4th largest in the country, which effectively makes North Central one of the largest geographic regions in the country. I, for one, appreciate our urban environment because when you look at other places a bit further south and west and north of us, eh..... not so much "nature" to write home about. We are supposed to be getting people out of their cars and homes and learning how to appreciate and enjoy our natural environment that we have in our North Texas backyard. Then a writer writes about it, encourages others to go out and enjoy our natural areas, but you have to go and be a jack-ass and bitch about the cement kilns.

I got news for ya, BB. Midlothian's a "stone's throw" away from Dallas, too, not just Cedar Hill. So the air we are all enjoying breathing in the City right now is the same air you breathe at Cedar Hill, only difference is there's less concrete and more trees at the State Park, so the air's probably just a little better out there.

Jerk.

Is it against Dallas Observer rules for you dipshit hipster fucks to enjoy something, ANYTHING locally without having to downplay it in some way? Good lord, people. If this area is so goddamned miserable then why the fuck are you here? Can't you get a job at the Denver Greensheet or writing for The Boulder Daily Worker?

Yes, I feel much better now.

Speaking of plumes...stumble down the right trail and your experience could become even more bucolic:

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Dallas-Agents-Uncover-Record-Sized-Pot-Farm/1$37001

If you love something, you need to protect it. Poison air kills God's little creatures just as surely as it does people, often faster. If you cherish the Cedar Hill area, you need to realize it's being ruined by the kilns on the other side of the hill from you. Love it enough to work for its protection. Otherwise you're just participating in TXI's greenwashing of their huge toxic operation.

But ignorance sure is bliss.

BB-

Do you own a car? Do you drive on roads built by cement kilns? I know you use electricity because I doubt your PC is run on solar power, but I could be wrong. Maybe. Maybe not.

We live in a big city. There are sacrifices. TXI can try to "greenwash" as much as you accuse them, however, the company's not sitting around doing nothing. At least it's something, a start, which is a far cry from what they have done in the past. I thought all liberals understood this concept: a half a loaf is better than none.

I have not seen any technology that shows we can generate electricity or cement 100% pollution free. Everything generates wast and we are just now at the beginning of getting the concept of green and recycling into the mainstream consciences of Americans.

My "ignorant bliss" is more like a realistic understanding and ability to grasp a number of variables at once. But I suppose righteous indignation on this one topic feels better.

They're not sitting around doing nothing." No, they're buring toxic waste in four 1960's kilns with hardly any pollution controls.

What did you think they were doing?

My car gets 90% of the NOx out of it before it hits the atmosphere. These kilns get less than half that while the technology exits to get 90%. You'd have to drive 500,000 cars to equal what the cement pants are pouring out. They're building newer, cleaner cement plants elsewhere while treating DFW citizens as second rate breathers.

It's not hopeless. It's that these companies are not being held to the same standards as the rest of us, even the power plants. Every report about the Cedar Hill State Park without mention of the very thing that threatens its survival and those of the residents who live around it, is inherently committing a sin of omission.

The same air in Cedar Hill is the same air in Dallas, in the DFW region, really. So is talking about any nature at all in Dallas a sin of omission too?