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Redstate...
When
Did the EPA Jump the Shark?
A cautionary tale about bureaucracy
and mission creep.
Posted by Steve Maley
Saturday,
December 10th
Iron
Eyes Cody cried at the sight of
polluted waters and skies in a famous public service announcement,
first aired
in 1971. Old Iron Eyes may have been a faux-Indian, but his message
resonated
with people. The Crying Indian PSA was one of the most successful ever.
It
resonated because it was true. In
the early ’70s, the environment was a mess. Urban skies were noticeably
tinged
in sepia/grey. Rivers and streams were often clogged with discarded
debris and
fouled with chemical sludge.
April
1970 saw the first Earth Day. In
December of the same year, the Environmental Protection Agency was born.
The
Clean Air Act was passed in 1970,
with the Clean Water Act to follow in 1972. 1973 brought the Endangered
Species
Act. [Note: see comments. The Fish & Wildlife Service &
NOAA are the
lead ESA agencies, with EPA in a support role. I stand corrected. Ed.]
Gradually,
the environment improved.
The bald eagle and the American alligator came back from the brink of
extinction. Air quality improved, there was less litter, and the
phosphate foam
disappeared from streams.
And,
rightly or wrongly, EPA got the
credit. As the hippies of my generation greyed, they remembered their
Earth Day
Groove-In fondly.
Fast
forward to 2011: the EPA has
become a stifling, job-killing bureaucracy. What happened? When did the
EPA
jump the shark?
EPA
takes credit for cleaning the air
of Six Principal Pollutants: Lead, Carbon Monoxide, Ozone, Pariculate
Matter,
Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide.
The
snail darter and the spotted owl
were harbingers. The 1.6 gallon-per-flush toilet brought the EPA into
the Inner
Sanctum of the average American’s home; in 1994, it should have been
our
clarion call.
In
California, restrictions on
brush-clearing favor the kangaroo rat’s habitat over humans’
habitations. In
West Texas, a 3-inch lizard threatens to shut down oil drilling.
Beyond
the Endangered Species Trump
Card, the EPA keeps expanding its purview. The alphabet-soup of CERCLA
and
other Superfund-related legislation has benefited legions of
environmental
attorneys and consultants with precious little progress in cleaning up
actual
pollution. Under President Clinton’s Executive Order, the EPA made an
issue of
“environmental justice”, based on the anecdotal observation that oil
refineries, landfills and chemical plants tend not to be built near
posh
neighborhoods and country clubs. Frustrated by inaction on
Anthropogenic Global
Warming, EPA expanded the definition of “pollutant” to cover carbon
dioxide,
which we exhale and green plants depend on for life. EPA has pushed to
set
acceptable urban ozone levels lower than the natural levels in
Yellowstone
Park.
But
if commercial or property
interests push back as the EPA expands its scope, they are
characterized as
“anti-environment”, without a critical look at the value of the
regulation. The
public in general is supportive of “the environment”, which translates
into
popular support of the EPA. Few are interested in cost/benefit analyses
or even
common sense.
But
this screed is less an indictment
of the EPA in particular than it is an indictment of bureaucracy in
general.
The problem is that budget growth is structurally built into the
system.
“Draconian budget cuts” are in fact decreases in a previously-projected
rate of
growth, not true cuts. Anything that grows at an annual rate of 8%
doubles in
size in just nine years. By not exercising fiscal restraint, meaning
zero-based
budgeting, weak politicians tacitly accept “mission creep”.
The
bureaucracies have grown too
large, too complex and too arrogant to accept Congressional oversight.
They
have expropriated legislative authority with “rulemaking”, and they
enforce the
laws as they see fit.
It’s
not just the EPA, it’s virtually
every branch of the government.
It’s
killing our freedom and our
prosperity.
We
need conservative leaders with the
cojones to stop it.
Read
this and other columns at
Redstate
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