EPA is ripe for efficiency analysis

[Diogenes]

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Elon Musk will investigate EPA, an agency he has tangled with in the past, under a new post awarded by President-elect Donald Trump.

The billionaire tech mogul and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tasked by Trump with leading a new government efficiency commission to slash the bloated federal bureaucracy.

“Whenever you talk about getting rid of regulations, EPA is usually one of the first if not the first agency people think about,” Stuart Shapiro, dean of the public policy school at Rutgers University, told POLITICO.

More than EPA’s regulations could be on the chopping block. The commission could recommend relocating its headquarters outside of Washington or shut down the agency altogether.

The commission’s creation will “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.” It will offer advice from outside the government and partner with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget “to drive large scale structural reform,” with its work concluding July 4, 2026.

The commission has its own X account, complete with a gray check mark badge, indicating it’s a government organization.

EPA in Elon Musk’s crosshairs

The tech mogul has had run-ins with the agency over permits and regulatory violations, and his businesses stand to benefit from slashing rules.

www.eenews.net

 

[Kurmugeon]

Yet the EPA really does have an important job to do.

It is NOT banning gasoline engines, and declaring CO2 a man-made pollutant.

But it is things like reviewing oil drilling sites, to insure that the saltdome-Brine is properly stored, and then returned to the empty underground cavity it was drawn from, before the oil company leaves operations at the site.

I am against Leftie political weaponized EPA. I am not against the valid mission and function of the EPA.

We NEED the EPA. And we need the EPA to do a non-Political Job.

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[T. A. Gardner]

Yet the EPA really does have an important job to do.

Had, and today its mission should be, but isn't, something like 98%+ enforcement of existing regulations, not creation of new ones.

It is NOT banning gasoline engines, and declaring CO2 a man-made pollutant.

It's making a damn good attempt to.

As for CO2, yes, the EPA has and continues to declare CO2 is a pollutant.

EPA Chief Resigns: Declared Carbon Dioxide A Pollutant

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced this morning she would resign as head of the agency after the president's State of the Union Address. Jackson was the first federal official to declare carbon dioxide a pollutant.

www.forbes.com

Yes, carbon dioxide is a pollutant

The Republican Party of Virginia recently held a weekend bash at a Dulles hotel to celebrate its sweep in the statewide

www.politifact.com

CO2 Is Legally a Pollutant Now

The 2022 climate bill won't solve the climate crisis or reduce carbon emissions. But it does lay the foundation for the EPA to regulate CO2.

earth911.com

I am against Leftie political weaponized EPA. I am not against the valid mission and function of the EPA.

We NEED the EPA. And we need the EPA to do a non-Political Job.

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I am against an EPA that believes its mission is to remove ALL pollution. That is, an EPA that sets as its goal, zero tolerance.

That position is nothing short of insane. It is an impossible goal, not to mention simply destructive of modern society. So long as the EPA seeks to stop and control ALL pollution, it needs to be put on a very short leash, and choker one at that.

I also think the EPA should be totally banned from interacting at a bureaucratic level with ANY and all environmentalist groups. Let those groups petition Congress to make laws that the EPA can subsequently enforce. Right now, the EPA uses "sue and settle" in collusion with environmentalist groups.

What that entails is the EPA wants to regulate something or reduce the levels of pollution on something but can't get the regulations they want through the process and in place. So, they quietly go to outside environmental groups that are sympathetic to their goals and have them sue the agency. They then reach an out-of-court settlement on behalf of the US government, produce the regulations they wanted, and start enforcing them. When anyone questions this, they point to the court settlement and say their hands are tied by the courts.

Sue and Settle: How the EPA Replaces States with Environmental Groups - American Legislative Exchange Council

Here’s how EPA Sue and Settle works: An environmental litigation organization like the Sierra Club sues EPA for failing to meet a deadline for...

alec.org

EPA's Secret And Costly 'Sue And Settle' Collusion With Environmental Organizations

Sadly, and alarmingly, this all falls far short of what would logically be expected from that “most transparent administration in history” we were promised.

www.forbes.com

Sue and Settle: Regulating Behind Closed Doors

"Sue and Settle" refers to when a federal agency agrees to a settlement agreement, in a lawsuit from special interest groups, to create priorities and rules outside of the normal rulemaking process.

www.uschamber.com

The higher up management of the EPA are nothing short of evil. They are perverting our system of government to establish what amounts to an authoritarian and totalitarian bureaucracy that uses environmental issues to control everything.

All of that needs to be smacked down hard and fast. A good chunk of the EPA's regulations simply need to stop and disappear. We need to get that agency back to enforcement of a set of reasonable regulations based on the idea of How much pollution should we allow?, not one of we need to get rid of, and control all pollution, to the point where we allow none to happen.