“This EPA is fixated on eliminating every conceivable environmental risk – no matter how small or minor the risk and regardless of how expensive or pointless the solution.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) addressed the American Action Forum regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) original mission versus its current agenda to over-regulate America’s job creators. For a full transcript of his remarks as prepared for delivery, please click here.
Excerpts of his remarks are below:
“When talking about the changes in EPA policy over the past 40 years, there’s really only one sentence that comes to mind: This is not your parents’ EPA.
“Your parents’ EPA practiced what it preached. This EPA says one thing and does another. Your parents’ EPA focused on rebuilding the environment. This EPA is focused on remaking society. Your parents’ EPA applied the law evenly. This EPA skirts the law.
“When the EPA got started, environmental action was essential. Our country faced undeniable environmental disasters. Environmental disasters killed people and jobs with equal force.
“Something absolutely had to be done. Facing these kinds of abuses was morally necessary.
“So Congress passed laws. The Clean Air Act kept toxins out of the air we breathe. And the Clean Water Act kept them from our streams. EPA’s job – and primary focus – is enforcing necessary laws like this, and we trusted them to do it. We should be able to trust them to do it now. Your parents’ EPA understood their duty. They did their job.
“This is not your parents’ EPA.
“This EPA is distracted. This EPA has tried to regulate almost everything. It has made it so American businesses can do almost nothing. This EPA is fixated on eliminating every conceivable environmental risk – no matter how small or minor the risk and regardless of how expensive or pointless the solution.
“A few years ago, people used to talk about some companies being too big to fail. This EPA is too big to succeed.
“This EPA aspires to replace Congress. Last month, the EPA announced an unprecedented power grab. Specifically, they issued guidance that overturns the narrow definition of federal waters of the United States. Under the new definition, everything from mudflats, to sand flats, wetlands, prairie potholes and natural ponds count as ‘Federal waters of the United States.’
“Right now, the EPA is trying to use the Clean Air Act to push through back door Cap and Trade rules. The EPA is pushing this policy despite bipartisan opposition. Cap and Trade did not pass the Senate the first time it was brought up. It cannot pass the Senate now.
“Fortunately, there is now a bipartisan consensus in the U.S. Senate that the EPA has gone too far. 64 Senators voted to reign in the EPA’s power. I have introduced a bill that would legally place the power to enact a Cap and Trade system with the legislature, where it belongs – not with the EPA.
“I’m reminded of a quote by President Ronald Reagan. ‘Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem.’
“Today, the EPA is the worst problem, and the most direct way to deal with it is holding them accountable and responsible. If we can act, I believe the wisdom of our action will be apparent to everyone. It will keep our future free, most of all for our children.”