Will Congress Now Rein in EPA?

Will Congress Now Rein in EPA?

The availability of abundant and reliable energy “horrifies people who relish scarcity… today, there is a name for the political doctrine that rejoices in the scarcity of everything except government. The name is environmentalism.” These are the words of columnist George Will which were noted in a recent FarmFutures article. If you’re looking for hope, don’t count on the Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who claims “Coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick. It’s global warming. It’s ruining our country. It’s ruining our world.”

In his FarmFutures article, Gary Baise, an Illinois farmer and trial attorney specializing in ag and environmental issues points to newly elected Republicans and some Democrats as the only hope in blocking the regulatory actions being undertaken by EPA.

Baise warns that Congress will find taking on EPA a challenging task.

The chairman of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) told Republicans coming to Washington “…not to listen to folks who voted them in on a cresting wave of economic ire.” Knowing EPA is on their side, they were bold enough to say “we are going to get there with Congress or without Congress.”

NRDC and others, with the help of EPA, remain determined to impose their radical political doctrine of environmentalism.

Baise says to expect the EPA and other regulators to ignore data they don’t like and to continue to attempt to regulate major activities in this country unless the new Republican majority in Congress conducts extensive oversight of EPA’s actions. ◆