Partisan divides aside, it’s a mystery as to why the right-wing faction of the Republican Party has become congenitally opposed to protection of the environment. At stake, after all, is the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the preservation of our most treasured public lands, parks and natural resources. It would seem normal, and conservative, to restrict pollution and industrial practices that demonstrably degrade our natural environment and the critical natural resources on which we all rely.
Yet Republican opposition to environmental protection is steadily becoming more pronounced. The latest example is the Republicans’ full-fledged assault on environmental rules and the Environmental Protection agency. The vehicle for their mission in the House of Representatives is the budget section of the government’s 2012 spending bill for the Interior Department and the EPA.
39 anti-environmental riders
Before House members adjourned for the August recess, Republicans had attached 39 anti-environmental amendments, known as “riders,” to the budget bills for these departments. These riders directly concern a range of specific issues, including greenhouse gases, mountaintop removal mining, clean water protections, coal ash regulation, wilderness protection, fuel economy for vehicles, waters flowing into the Everglades, and uranium mining around the Grand Canyon, among many other subjects.
Beyond these major issues, some riders reach down to model practices. One would end funding for the Energy Star program, which informs shoppers on energy efficiency measurements in appliances. Rep. Marsh Blackburn, of Tennessee, proposes a rider to bar funds for research or use of energy efficient lights. Rep. Austin Scott, of Georgia, would bar funds for climate change research.