60% of Republicans in Rep. Upton's District Say "Let the EPA do its Job"
When your own constituents, the majority of whom are from your own party, disagree with your decision to let polluters off the hook, maybe it’s time to change course. But Rep. Fred Upton, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wasn’t listening to his Republican supports who voted for him when he decided in February to support a continuing resolution (CR) to reduce federal spending for the reminder of the year while simultaneously handcuffing the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gasses and slash the agency's budget by $3 billion, 29 percent below the fiscal 2010 level of $10.3 billion.
Nope, instead Upton helped pass this bill in the House with $20,000 from Koch Industries funding behind him. Unfortunately, it’s not only Upton making anti-environmental punches at the EPA, many House members voted for amendments that would block the agency from protecting public health and holding polluters accountable. Other amendments would cut funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency, clean water, land conservation and prevent the EPA from regulating toxic emissions including mercury.But polls from the National Resource Defense Fund show that the majority of Upton's constituents (67%) say members of Congress should let the EPA—an agency of top scientists—remain in charge of regulating dangerous air pollutions, not the politicians in Congress.
The CR bill, disguised merely as a strategy to reduce government spending, is a means for certain politicians to take an ax to the regulatory agency that ensures our environment and American health is protected from toxic chemicals. Frankly, the EPA should be doing even more to protect our environment and our health. The bill also suggests that regulating polluters, such as Enbridge or cement plants, discourages job creation. That’s a hard sell when these same businesses have the potential to dump oil in our rivers or release mercury in our air. Exposure to toxic emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane and mercury, are linked to rare forms of cancer and children’s asthma respiratory illnesses—not to mention climate change.
These deregulations could have a massive effect on Michigan citizens, a number of whom suffer from asthma and other illnesses due to living in close proximity to industrial centers. Neighborhoods, like those in Southwest Detroit, could see an increase in health problems because industries would not be regulated by the amount of greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals they emit into the air.
On March 2, the Senate adopted a two-week version of the CR with $4 billion in spending cuts. Sadly, Republicans and Democrats are still debating over whether EPA studies showing that greenhouse gases cause harm to public health and contribute to climate change are valid. Some, like Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) suggest that the administration’s endangerment finding will “lead to a wave of new regulations and bureaucracy that will wreak havoc on the American economy, destroy millions of jobs and force consumers to pay more for electricity and gasoline.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Energy experts have long been pointing to the cost savings of turning to cleaner, renewable energies. Inhofe should look right here in Michigan, where businesses like wind turbine manufacturers are creating new innovative industries and places like and places like Hamtramck are re-opening plants to produce electric vehicles.
While Washington bickers over an issue most Americans (and frankly the rest of the world) pretty much agree on, neighborhoods, towns, and even whole cities and states are finding ways to reduce their carbon emissions. We need Congress to do the same.
It’s imperative that the politicians attacking the EPA stop claiming they are listening to the American people, and blaming the EPA for slowing our economy. Let’s face it, the less we protect these resources, the worse our economy becomes. The more we support innovative clean energy industries, the better our health and our children’s future will be.
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