Monday, April 25, 2011

EPA Regulations Strangling America

Billions and billions of dollars in budget money and virtually unlimited power. The epa is doing everything that it can do to wreck our economy by imposing insane standards on companies and coming soon, even individuals. The epa is denying oil companies the ability to drill for oil in our Country, making it impossible for us to become free of foreign oil. The epa is telling us what kind of light bulbs we can use.

Our economy is bordering on collapse and the epa still makes unreal demands of companies.

The worst part about the epa, they don't give a damn what we, the public think or say, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it...

by Rep. Ted Poe - Human Events

Right now, someone is sitting at a large oak table in the EPA’s marble palace in Washington, D.C., sipping a vanilla latte and dreaming up a new rule to impose. Without fail, the EPA continues to come up with ideas that leave you scratching your head in wonderment because of the questionable science used to justify these regulations. Instead of protecting the environment, these rules dreamed up by the EPA in Washington are destroying American industry and killing job creation, which is just what our economy needs right now. This type of federal meddling is exactly what causes companies to lay off workers, move overseas, and in many cases, fail. The purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect the environment—not to regulate American industry into nonexistence.

The EPA’s blatant disregard of the fragile state of our economy is alarming. Businesses in the United States already are operating in an environment of uncertainty, which makes investors hesitant to invest in American businesses. The EPA’s efforts to force companies to comply with its expensive (and many times environmentally unnecessary) regulations will inevitably increase the cost for businesses, and accordingly consumers, and destroy job growth. If the EPA continues on its crusade of destruction and over-regulation, manufacturing and energy companies will take their business to friendlier lands overseas, jobs will be destroyed, and the environment will not be any better off.

In the name of saving us from ourselves, the EPA continues to abuse its power. The mother of all mandates is the proposed cap-and-trade regulations. Houston, Tex., is the energy capital of the world, and my area of southeast Texas is home to more energy companies and facilities than almost any other location in the United States. What I hear most often from the businesses that supply the energy that our country demands is that these questionable regulations will significantly increase costs that make doing business in the U.S. too difficult. This type of over-regulation will crush the economy and put thousands of people out of work. What makes the EPA’s proposed regulations most disturbing is that Texas has been successful on its own in ensuring clean air through the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality. Despite Texas’ own progress, the EPA is looking for more to control, arrogantly ignoring the will of the people and the will of Congress.

The American people have rejected the EPA’s cap-and-trade regulations overwhelmingly, and this month, the House of Representatives passed the Energy Tax and Prevention Act that would prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gasses (i.e., carbon dioxide). Of course, this caused the fear-mongerers to scream that we don’t care about the environment. What was left out of their talking points is that this legislation does not prohibit the EPA from regulating those hazardous pollutants that are harmful to public health. We await the Senate's action on this bill.

The Environmental Police Agency’s assault on our economy and state does not stop there. It wants to control what kind of light-bulbs Americans use, how much power the utility companies generate, the “particulate coarse matter”—more commonly known as dust found on farms and ranches, how much water we have in our toilets, and one of the newest ones: What kind of anti-bacterial soap we use to wash our hands. That’s right, the EPA’s overstepping of authority now touches almost every aspect of our lives. So, if you’re a mom who has been using the same soap for years to protect your children from spreading germs, sorry. You need to go to the pharmacy and buy some new “improved” EPA-authorized soap. While you’re there, you should pick up a box of only-Made-in-China compact fluorescent bulbs—because thanks to the EPA—incandescent bulbs will be banned by 2014.

Read the rest at the link above...