The Failures of the EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be the most rogue of all Obama administration agencies. Since Obama has been in office the EPA has introduced over 3500 new EPA regulations. The regulations are longer than the Harry Potter series of books in terms of wording. The EPA has nearly 16,000 employees and contracts thousands more at any given time. Without congressional oversight, the EPA has been Obama’s way to implement a Nationalized Environmental Policy. Originally, the EPA was a resource for local and state governments. Now, it is the enforcer of federal policy that mostly prohibits energy options for states and local governments. The result is obvious: higher energy costs, less safe automobiles, and obviously a loss of jobs to the U.S. economy.

Thirteen times under Obama, the EPA lost a case before the Supreme Court. That is not the surprising news, the surprise is that Obama’s EPA lost all of these cases 9-0. Even the most liberal justices cannot defend Obama’s exceedingly large power grab for the executive branch.

The EPA mostly attacks coal and oil based energy sources by regulating emission standards (Cap and Trade). For instance, in order for automobiles to meet emission standards, cars must be made lighter. Cap and Trade emission standards are so stringent, our cheapest form of energy - coal power plants -cannot meet them.

It is no secret that the administration is and was picking winners and losers in the energy sector. His stimulus poured billions into green energy. Yet, despite his funding, solar panel company Solyndra went belly up. Solyndra was the one company that received some negative press however, 34 companies that received government subsidies under the stimulus went bankrupt or had to implement major layoffs to stay afloat. This money was wasted. The President erred in many ways but in particular by investing in companies (picking winners and losers) and not in innovative technology. The President invested in old and expensive technologies that were not sustainable and not in modern proprietary technology needed to move green energy forward so it can become cost effective.

As a direct result of Obama’s nationalized environmental plan the administration turned its back on the Keystone Pipeline. The administration caved to environmental pressure during the BP oil spill and refused to use techniques and chemicals to contain the spill. Instead, they let millions of gallons of crude oil leak into the Gulf and basically did nothing to try to stop it. The Obama administration refuses to target ISIS oil fields because of the backlash it will have on the environment. Instead, they are willing to let ISIS continue to obtain wealth to grow and finance terror. The EPA was responsible for spilling over 1 million gallons of waste into the Animas River in Colorado. And if all of this is not bad enough, the EPA refused to get involved in the Flint, Michigan water contamination problem. For nearly a year, they allowed the state to provide toxic drinking water (laced with lead) to its populous (and they knew it was happening).

When Cap and Trade failed in Congress, Obama circumvented the legislative branch by empowering the EPA to pass his Clean Power Plan. Unelected bureaucrats were set in charge of a 1600 page regulatory plan and 800 page implementation plan. The result of this massive power grab to enforce a cap and trade policy: higher energy costs, lost jobs to the economy, unsafe automobiles, and negligence in the form of Colorado and Michigan water supplies.