House Targets EPA for Massive Budget Cuts or Outright Termination

This Wednesday, House appropriation's leader proposed to gouge a massive $1.6 billion from President Obama's $10 billion proposed EPA budget. To top it off, former House speaker and potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is proposing to abolish the EPA entirely and replace it with an "Environmental Solutions Agency," an organization with an undoubtedly limited agenda, one might assume.

Last year the EPA saw a budget increase from $7.6 to $10.3 billion. This jump in funding brought about a great deal of water and energy benefits such as tax incentives for energy efficient appliances and the development of wind power technologies (the most water and carbon efficient source of electricity available), and assisted in the implementation of greenhouse gas regulation which began January 2, 2011. However, this year with Obama's $10 billion proposed budget as a starting point, if the House's proposed $1.6 billion EPA budget cut succeeds, EPA will be looking at a budgeted capacity of only $8.4 billion that will likely severely limit program effectiveness.

As reported yesterday in USA Today:

Targeted programs (for the massive budget cuts) deal with air pollution, drinking water, energy efficiency, renewable energy and Energy Star products. Also sought is a $1 billion cut for light-speed rail (which Obama champoined in his State of the Union address).

If huge budget cuts aren't threatening enough, former House leader and potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is proposing an all out abolishment of the EPA. In their place, Gingrich proposes to replace the agency with an "Environmental Solutions Agency," one that he says will spur innovation and new technologies, rather than regulate and litigate... Just what the US needs: further unregulated and uneducated spending on economically easier solutions which will more than likely only continue to exacerbate the global climate and national water and energy security challenges.

With the lack of a climate bill, massive proposed budget cuts to limit the authority of the EPA, a disbanded global warming committee and a majority of the House of Representatives opposed to facing the water, energy and climate challenges, I can only hope for the best in 2011.