The gulf between rational Americans and the corporate manipulated Tea Party crazies is wider than the Grand Canyon when it comes to environmental protections. Unfortunately, most Americans for a variety of reasons are distracted and not aware that these right wing ideologues are stealing our country right from under us. Last week, Eric Cantor and the House Republicans approved an Appropriations bill for the Department of Interior and the US EPA that guts much our environmental law by denying funding and otherwise restricting agencies from doing their job. It is now up to the US Senate to perform environmental remediation on this toxic legislative Superfund site. Here is a sample of the House Republicans efforts to undo basic environmental protections:
Greenhouse Gases Sec. 431. (a) During the one year period commencing on the date of enactment of this Act- (1) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall not propose or promulgate any regulation regarding the emissions of greenhouse gases from stationary sources to address climate change.
Cleaner Cars &Fuel Economy Sec. 453. None of the funds made available under this Act shall be used- (1) to prepare, propose, promulgate, finalize, implement, or enforce any regulation pursuant to section 202 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521) regarding the regulation of any greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines that are manufactured after model year 2016 to address climate change.
Mountaintop Removal Mining Sec 432. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to develop, carry out, implement, or otherwise enforce proposed regulations published June 18, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 34,667) by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement of the Department of the Interior.
Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Sec. 445. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the approximately 1,010,776 acres of public lands and National Forest System lands described in Public Land Order No. 7773; Emergency Withdrawal of Public and National Forest System Lands, Coconino and Mohave Counties; AZ (76 Fed. Reg. 37826) may be withdrawn from location and entry under the General Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) except as expressly authorized by a law enacted after the date of enactment of this Act that refers to this section.
Clean Water Sec. 435. None of the funds made available by this Act or any subsequent Act making appropriations for the Environmental Protection Agency may be used by the Environmental Protection Agency to develop, adopt, implement, administer, or enforce a change or supplement to the rule dated November 13, 1986, or guidance documents dated January 15, 2003, and December 2, 2008, pertaining to the definition of waters under the jurisdiction of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).
Coal Ash Sec. 434. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Environmental Protection Agency to develop, propose, finalize, implement, administer, or enforce any regulation that identifies or lists fossil fuel combustion waste as hazardous waste subject to regulation under subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) or otherwise makes fossil fuel combustion waste subject to regulation under such subtitle.
Florida Waters Sec. 452. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to implement, administer, or enforce the rule entitled “Water Quality Standards for the State of Florida’s Lakes and Flowing Waters” published in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection Agency on December 6, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 75762 et seq.).
Wilderness Protections Sec. 124. None of the funds made available in this Act or any other Act may be used to implement, administer, or enforce Secretarial Order No. 3310 issued by the Secretary of the Interior on December 22, 2010.
See NYT article: Concealed Weapons Against the Environment http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07…
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