Combs Spouts Off

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Posts Tagged ‘epa’

EPA uses judicial jiu jitsu to expand its powers

Posted by Richard on August 17, 2012

Suppose you’re the Obama administration’s EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and suppose you wish the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act gave you more powers than they actually give you. You could go back to Congress and propose that they amend the legislation to expand your powers. Or instead, you could just circumvent the law like this:

  1. Get your friends in the environmental movement (like the Sierra Club, where disgraced former EPA employee Alfredo Armendariz now works) to sue the EPA for failing to do something that the law doesn’t allow it to do.
     
  2. “Negotiate” with the suing environmental group and enter into a “consent agreement” with them in which the EPA agrees to impose the extra-legal regulations that the environmental group asked for.
     
  3. Get the judge in the lawsuit (who’s probably in on the scam, since the plaintiff chose the jurisdiction with an eye on who the judges are) to sign the consent decree, since the parties to the suit are “in agreement.”

Shazam! Now the EPA has the power to impose regulations that the laws passed by Congress don’t give them!

This is how the coal industry is being destroyed — among others. This is how the Obama administration is subverting the rule of law, thumbing its nose at Congress, and expanding its ability to rule by executive decree.

The only thing left to do is to stonewall FOIA requests that might uncover the collusion with the environmental groups. See this NetRight Daily post by Rick Manning for more details.

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Al “crucify them” Armendariz resigns

Posted by Richard on April 30, 2012

Last week, Sen. Inhofe (R-OK) released a video in which EPA administrator Al Armendariz talked about crucifying oil and gas companies. According to Christopher Helman at Forbes, the EPA tried just that with Fort Worth’s Range Resources until a federal court slapped them down.

Armendariz’s apology didn’t quiet the furor over his remarks, so over the weekend he was apparently persuaded to spend more time with his family:

The EPA Region 6 administrator who boasted of his “crucify them” philosophy of enforcement for oil and gas producers has resigned from his post at EPA. Al Armendariz announced Monday that he had submitted a letter of resignation Sunday.

Prior to his resignation the EPA administrator had more than half of the representatives from the states contained within Region 6 calling for his ouster.

(Region 6 includes Texas and the surrounding states, the heart of America’s oil and gas industry.)

Sen. Inhofe wasn’t satisfied by Armendariz’s resignation:

The ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works said that while it was right for Al Armendariz to resign in the wake of his comments positively comparing oil and gas regulation enforcement to Roman crucifixions, the EPA, under President Barack Obama, still has a problem with how it treats America’s energy producers.

“It is not just Armendariz. There are a lot of other Armendarizes around,” Inhofe told TheDC, explaining the problem has not been solved with the Region 6 administrator’s exit.

“We watch these guys. We get the complaints from people who are being run out of business by the EPA, and he’s one but there are several others also,” he said.

I’d wager a pretty penny that Armendariz is replaced by someone just as dedicated to the Obama administration’s War on Fossil Fuels, but more circumspect about what’s said in public.

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Maest dropped from EPA conference, AFP protest still on

Posted by Richard on April 3, 2012

The out-of-control Environmental Protection Agency is holding a conference in Denver to “examine and discuss current and future environmental issues which provide opportunities for efficient resource extraction, mine closure, and for the remediation of abandoned mines.” One of the featured speakers, Boulder’s Ann Maest, has withdrawn (or was eased out) in the wake of strong criticism over her inclusion.

Maest is a defendant in a RICO lawsuit by Chevron. She and her cohorts allegedly fabricated evidence and intimidated judges in furtherance of a lawsuit against Chevron’s operations in the Amazon and then lied to cover up their wrongdoing. The evidence against them appears to be strong.

Of course, the EPA has simply replaced her on the program with one of her co-conspirators against Chevron.

The Americans for Prosperity “Occupy the EPA: Give Red Tape a Rest” rally is still on, despite Maes’ departure from the conference program. It will take place at noon Wednesday at the conference site, the Renaissance Denver Hotel, 3801 Quebec Street. If you’re not busy working for a living many miles away (like I am, unfortunately), why don’t you join them? For quite some time, but especially under Obama, the EPA has done more to strangle our economy than just about any other agency.

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Regulation Reality Tour hits Colorado

Posted by Richard on April 19, 2010

Americans for Prosperity is bringing its Regulation Reality Tour to Colorado April 19-21. It sounds like a fun event with a serious message. "Carbon Cops" in SMART cars will drive home the message that the EPA's efforts to regulate carbon emissions (without congressional action) threaten to burden us with onerous regulations, taxes, and fines for activities that harm no one, further harming our economy.

I plan to drop by the Denver event at the State Capitol Monday evening (5-6 PM) after work. There'll be free hot dogs and something called "moon bounce." I don't know about the latter, but I'll definitely grab a free hot dog. If you're in the neighborhood, please join me.

Other Colorado events are scheduled in Ft. Collins and Aurora on Monday, Highlands Ranch and Colorado Springs on Tuesday, and Montrose, Grand Junction, and Wheat Ridge on Wednesday. All offer free food and most offer the mysterious "moon bounce." Get more info and sign up to attend here (you don't have to sign up to attend, but the free food supply is more likely to be adequate if you do). Bring the family — I'm guessing "moon bounce" is something the kids will like. 

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