From the 1389 Blog Mailbox:

Guest Article by Scott P.:

The Federal budget has been the subject of debate all over the country for the past few weeks and months. With a proposal finally pushed through last week, there remains some controversy in the republican realm over the EPA’s budget after the resolution. The choice to only cut about 16 percent of the EPA’s budget, as well as reduce only a few programs has continued to ruffle the feathers of outspoken republicans who see many EPA regulations as costly and unneeded, primarily those that allow the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. GOP reps and business leaders have connected the regulations with reduced revenue and no employment growth.

With the resolution providing less than stellar results for the republicans, it will remain to be seen if they will continue their assault on the EPA throughout 2011. If one had to bet, look for them to continue. The republicans have built up too much time and effort to stop simply because the budget proposal didn’t come to their own liking. It would be one thing if the proposal included cuts to any of the EPA programs that have constricted business owners and industry recently, instead the resolution simply cuts down on some of the EPA’s local projects and water infrastructure plans. Conspicuously left off the cuts was any reference to the greenhouse gas regulation, the Clean Air Act, or the cap and trade taxes that are hindering industry revenue and employment growth.

Given the misfire by President Obama, it’s likely that the GOP will have to adjust its plan of attack on the EPA. They have already introduced the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, which is guided to take power away from the Clean Air Act and to eliminate the cap and trade agenda, which levies costly taxes against businesses. It’s likely that more acts such as this one will continue to be levied by GOP reps in what little effort they can put forth to reduce the EPA’s power, primarily because they’ve been continually rejected. One plan of attack that may work well against the EPA is to point out their inability to promote, invest, and defend the proper initiatives, such as ones that are served to cut down directly on environmentally related health risks, instead of defending rather useless initiatives. Every year the EPA does work with little resources on programs such as asbestos removal which cuts down on mesothelioma cases, as well as limiting water contamination levels, public water problems and its associated health risks.

A better use of the EPA’s current resources should be the GOP’s reference point. The EPA’s work in water contamination allows the agency to regulate and monitor public water sources and local water rules in an effort to cut back on the associated health problems. Their work in asbestos abatement does wonders all over the country every year ridding schools and older buildings of potentially hazardous materials. In some cases, their work in removing asbestos can even be considered a direct life saving initiative, seeing as mesothelioma life expectancy is on average, lasts only a year after diagnosis. Considering the direct impact that some of the EPA’s initiatives can have, it should be pointed out and exploited that there has been a recent failure in promoting and diverting resources to the right programs.

Given the fact that the EPA has spent the bulk of the year defending the Clean Air Act and the cap and trade agenda, two controversial issues, they could stand do divert some of their attention to more important programs. Hopefully republicans and business owners will continue to point out the ineffectiveness in some areas of the EPA’s structure, in a way that can get back revenue and employment growth, while still looking to serve the environment in the proper way.

Previously published on 1389 Blog.