Republican Representatives Propose A Bill to Abolish The EPA – Futurism

The WrongDirection

Itstarted withremoving mentions of climate change on the WhiteHouse website, and now we are looking at an outright dissolution. Since Donald Trumps inauguration, the governments support of scientists and administrative organizations combating climate change (and protecting the environment) has dramatically decreased.

Case in point, on Friday February 3, Republican Florida congressman Matt Gaetz presented the billH.R.861, which would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Not wanting to beat around the bush, the bill is actually called the bill to terminate the Environmental Protection Agency a pretty straightforward name that shows how the winds are changing in Washington.

The EPA is the federal agency that monitors and implements policies that protectour environment. Gaetz and fellow Republican representatives (who co-sponsored H.R.861) do not feel that this agency is necessary.

Kentucky representative Thomas Massie stated that The EPA makes rules that undermine the voice of the American people and threaten jobs in Kentucky. The bills authors believe that removing the EPA would move oversight and regulation from the federal government to individual states, which they feel already have the resources necessary to protect our environment.

Experts disagree with this move. A lot of states just dont have resources available to them, said professor Mary Jane Angelo, director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Program at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Wealthier states would have better protection for their citizens health than poorer states.

But as the quote above makes clear, the thrust is really on placing jobs before the environment, so even if all states did have the necessary resources, it is clear that many states do not have the dedication or the will toprotect our environment.

However, EPA or No EPA, human-made climate change remains part of our daily reality, a reality which is progressively worsening.

Earths temperatures have been consistently warming. Despite political pushback from those who deny climate change, the actual effects of anthropogenic (manmade) climate change continue. From aberrant hurricanes and typhoons the world overto the extinction of several species, human-made climate change cannot be denied.

The details of H.R.861 remain unknown, as the text is still unavailable; however, the Walton Sunreports that the bill offers nothing new in the way of guidance, and according to Massie, 2018 will be the end of the EPA.

Hopefully, this will not happen, because if it is not yet obvious to some howthreatening human-made climate change is, it will become apparent all too soon.

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Republican Representatives Propose A Bill to Abolish The EPA - Futurism

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