EPA: An Enemy of Prosperity in America
August 3, 2011
EPA: An Enemy of Prosperity in America
By: Congressman Tim Huelskamp
Throughout the debate over raising the country’s debt limit people on both sides of the issue talked about the economic impact of raising the credit card limit, and how job creation would be affected based on the size of cuts and caps. After all, however much Washington spends and borrows is money that is taken out of the hands of consumers and businesses that otherwise keep the economy humming and prosperity growing. But there is a third component that cannot be neglected in efforts to spur job creation: the need to reduce regulation.
Besides getting spending and borrowing under control, the future of our economy depends on getting our regulatory system in check. America cannot afford an expanded and excessive regulatory scheme concocted by bureaucrats who have never met a payroll in their entire lives. Rules on employers are sold to the American people as well-intentioned, but they often end up being expensive and time-consuming for employers simply trying to pursue the American Dream. Unfortunately, this administration has bound employers so tightly with that red tape that they are choking their abilities to create jobs. Most of the bureaucrats writing and enforcing these regulations have no idea of the consequences, and if they do, they apparently do not care.
In Western Kansas, we are all too familiar with the devastating effects of the Environmental Protection Agency. Last week, the House considered the Department of Interior annual appropriations. The underlying bill contained a 17% reduction in funding for the EPA; I believed it did not go far enough and offered an amendment to reduce it even more. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed with me, but not everyone has witnessed the same type of assault on their districts as I have seen. Washington bureaucrats at the EPA have declared open season on agriculture and energy – two of Kansas’ major industries.
In addition to reducing EPA funding overall, this appropriations bill seeks to prohibit the EPA from imposing unwarranted, unnecessary, and duplicative regulations on farmers. Given that many EPA bureaucrats have never stepped on a farm – let alone been to Kansas – it is easy to explain why they have no idea that their regulations would drive farmers out of business. Regulating dust? Are they serious? Wind is as common as oxygen on Kansas farms; the EPA would prefer we just halt operations on days the wind blows.
But perhaps one of the greatest offenses by the EPA is its war against Sunflower Electric’s proposed expansion in Holcomb. There, the EPA is unnecessarily delaying and complicating the permitting process for the coal-fired plant. While the President pontificates about needing jobs in America, nearly 1,900 construction and nearly 300 permanent jobs remain uncreated and Kansas’ economy is deprived of millions of dollars in economic activity.
Loosening the regulatory grip of the EPA on America’s job creators is the next logical step for Washington to take in its efforts to restore in American employers the confidence they need to create jobs and pursue prosperity.