Conservation group calls U.S. House actions a ‘nightmare for the environment’
U.S.
Jul 31, 202099.3K Shares1.6M Views
In an email sent out to supporters, the Florida Conservation Alliance calls recent U.S. House actions a “nightmare for the environment,” arguing that several recently passed bills are masked as “job creators,” but are actually just “giveaways to corporate polluters.”
Last month, the House passed the TRAIN Act, a bill that but would weaken protections against mercury, smog and soot, “critical safeguards that would save almost 3,000 lives per year in Florida alone,” according to the Alliance.
The Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (or TRAIN, as it has come to be known) Act would create a special committee to oversee the EPA’s rules and regulations. The bill would also require the EPA to to consider economic impacts on polluters when it sets air pollution limits. John Walke, the clean air director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, calledthe act “the most radical dirty-air legislation in the history of this country.”
The attack on the EPA certainly hasn’t been limited to members of the House; the refrain to get rid of the agency entirely has become standard for members of the GOP, especially presidential candidates.
The Florida Conservation Alliance cites a recently outlined Fall Agenda as evidence that the passage of the TRAIN act is “just the beginning” of attempts to undermine the EPA.
In a memosent to his fellow House Republicans, Majority Leader Eric Cantor outlined his upcoming “jobs agenda,” which seems to have more to do with attacking regulations than creating jobs. “By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations,” writes Cantor, “we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers alike, empowering them to hire more workers.”
Cantor goes on to list the “Top 10 Job-Destroying Regulations” identified by committee chairmen. Almost all of the bills he aims to repeal would set limits on harmful emissions that can be detrimental to both the environment and human health.
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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