dailycaller
Rep. Matt Gaetz 3:27 PM 02/17/2017
http://dailycaller.com/2017/02/17/the-epa-cannot-be-reformed-it-needs-to-be-abolished/[excerpt]
“What is a watershed assessment?” That’s what Edwin Henry wondered after the EPA suddenly and unexpectedly appeared on his farm in Blackman. His “environmental impact” was simply widening his cows’ drinking pond on his own property. No animals were harmed in the making of that pond—but Mr. Henry sure was. The damage: hundreds of thousands of dollars in compliance costs that didn’t help a single species or restore an acre of habitat. What a waste!
This happens every day across America. According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, EPA compliance costs total more than three hundred billion dollars annually. More and more money is being spent in order to address smaller and smaller risks. The Office of Management and Budget rated the thirty least cost-effective regulations—the EPA created seventeen of them.
Unlike our environment, the EPA cannot be saved. One deputy stole nearly a million dollars. Others were busted for misusing funds to hire public relations consultants. The non-partisan Government Accountability Office found that the EPA was showing favoritism in awarding grants, not managing the performance of grants, and misappropriating funds intended for environmental restoration. Stanford fellow Dr. Henry Miller referred to the EPA as “relentlessly ideological, politicized, corrupt and incompetent.”
