On February 3rd, a Florida U.S. Representative, Matt Gaetz-R, introduce a bill that would dissolve the EPA entirely. He titled the bill “To Terminate the Environmental Protection Agency” The bill is published under H.R. 861. Three others republicans U.S. Representatives have co-sponsored the bill including: Rep Massie Thomas- Kentucky, Rep. Steven Palazzo- Mississippi, and Rep. Barry Loudermilk- Georgia [Snopes 2017]. I am opposed to this bill creation because it undermines my core values as wildlife professional. I was taught to protect the environment not destroy it.
The
bill originated from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee under
the committee’s “Make the EPA Great Again” initiative [Huff 2017, Snopes 2017].
How is the committee supposed to “Make the EPA Great Again” when they want to
get rid of it? If you look at who is on the committee, you wouldn’t be
surprised. The chairman, Lamar Smith-Texas-R, has been a longtime opponent of
the scientific community. Lamar Smith has also proposed bills limiting the EPA
including the Secret Science Reform Act. The act would have kept the EPA from
releasing its studies and recreating them [Ars 2017]. Other people that
contribute to the committee’s action are lobbyists for oil, gas, and chemical
companies, including Jeffery Holmstead and Kimberly White. Holmstead was also
the assistant EPA administrator with the President George W. Bush administration
[Huff 2017]. This evidence shows that the bill will not “Make the EPA Great
Again.” The committee just wants to create the bill to benefit the oil, gas,
and chemical companies. The bill would allow the companies to pollute the
environment more easily.
Although
most people think the EPA only deals with the environment, they are also
involved with human health. Under the EPA, pesticides and asbestos are
regulated. The EPA makes sure pesticides, such as chlorpyrifos, are used
correctly. Chlorpyrifos have been found to be detrimental to human health,
especially in children. We’ve all saw the commercials about asbestos and know
how bad it can be for our health. Under the EPA, asbestos regulates where and
how asbestos can be used. The EPA outlines how asbestos is not to be used at
places where children frequent. This includes schools [EPA 2017].
As
natural resource professional and sportsman, you should be alarmed because of
laws that possible be not enforced, with the termination of the EPA. Clean air and clean water are important and
essential to a healthy environment and they could be in jeopardy with the
termination of the EPA. The Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act are enforced
under the EPA. The EPA enforces how pollutants can be disposed. Guidelines are
created under Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act to decrease the amount pollutants
being released into environment. If these two acts were not enforced, the
environment could quickly become polluted. They protect the environment from
pollutants that many companies create. Without the enforcement of the many of
the acts, companies could potentially do whatever they want with their
pollutants [EPA 2017].
Is
it a coincidence that Rep. Matt Gaetz receives a lot of funding from big oil
and gas companies? I think not. This conflict of interest gives Rep. Matt Gaetz
a bias over oil and gas companies. He does want to lose the payments he
receives from them. The North Florida Neighbors, one of Matt Gaetz’s donors,
has received thousands of dollars from numerous oil and gas companies. This
past year they received about $100,000 from Harness Oil and Gas. Much of that
money went to Rep. Matt Gaetz’s campaign. Altogether the North Florida
Neighbors spend $300,000 on various advertisement strategies for Rep. Matt
Gaetz. It is no wonder he wants to dissolve the EPA. His donors want free rein over what they do
with their pollutants and he wants to keep getting his check sent to him
[Politico 2016].
As
of now, nothing has been written up for the bill, but between the creation of
this bill and Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, the EPA is in for a rough
four years. Scott Pruitt was the attorney general of Oklahoma who has a
reputation for attacking the EPA. He even has sued the EPA. Scott Pruitt has
also been found to have ties to the fossil fuel energy sector. As the Oklahoma
attorney general, Scott Pruitt allowed oil and gas companies, such as Devon
Energy, to write letters to the EPA about regulations [Wash 2017]. After
hearing about this I plan on contacting my local U.S. representative and you
should too.
Literature
Cited:
United
States Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]. 2017. Laws and Regulations. <
https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations
>. Accessed 1 March 2017.
Snopes
[Snopes]. 2017. Florida Lawmaker’s Bill Would ‘Terminate’ Environmental
Protection
Agency.
< http://www.snopes.com/2017/02/06/florida-lawmakers-bill-terminate-
The
Huffington Post [Huff]. 2017. Congress Asks Lobbyists Who Fought EPA How to
Make it
ArsTechnica
[Ars]. 2017. House Science Committee holds hearing on “Making EPA Great
The
Washington Post [Wash]. 2017. Thousands of emails detail EPA head’s close ties
to fossil
backing-gaetz-gets-100-k-boost-from-houston-oil-company-104450 >. Accessed
1 March 2017.
I agree this bill should not be passed, the only thing it could possibly lead to is environmental problems. The representatives who support this bill all seem to be more interested in their own gain then aiding the environment, which does not bode well for the future of this country. Also, as you mentioned the EPA does not just aid in the protection of the environment, it also helps to protect human health. If the EPA is dissolved what could that mean for human health. Will there be less strict regulations on where and how pesticides can be applied, possibly leading to illness, will pollution levels increase, we don’t know the answers to these and many other questions but I hope that we never have to learn them.
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