Environmental Protection Agency, My Ass

Published February 12, 2008

By Alexander Hemmer

I’ve been convinced for a long time now that the names of the departments and agencies in the government are in need of a major overhaul. The paradoxes are everywhere. The Justice Department? “Justice” hardly comes to mind when I think of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez trying to cover up U.S. torture programs or the unconstitutional and illegal detainment of the “terrorists” at Guantanamo. Homeland Security? More like Homeland Surveillance. Department of Defense? I might be missing something here, but our military has been doing a hell of a lot more “offense” these days than anything else.

Well, we’ve got another agency to add to the list, one I once naively thought of as resistant to corrupt government influence. Last year, California (joined later by 16 other states) submitted a proposal to the EPA aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The plan was to lower emissions by 30% by 2016. Environmentalists cheered and excitement spread across the nation as it seemed that someone was (gasp) actually doing something to fight climate change. That is, until the EPA decided to reject California’s request.

Remember - EPA stands for the Environmental Protection Agency. So why would an organization whose sole purpose is to care for ecosystems and the people within them choose to destroy such an obviously beneficial policy? The head of the EPA, Stephen Johnson, declared that climate change did not present an exclusive threat to the state of California and that only national programs to combat global warming would be appropriate.

First of all, it’s completely ridiculous to say that climate change isn’t a threat to an individual state. Because of its location on the coast and its warm climate, California will experience a variety of severe weather events and water shortages as global temperatures rise. Johnson’s statement also begs the question - what national program? Since when has the Bush administration done anything even remotely close to creating a national initiative against greenhouse gases? Dubya managed to pull us out of Kyoto, and threatens to veto most anything that even mentions “lowered emissions” on the grounds that it will hurt the economy.

This is not to say that there have been all that many bills for him to veto. Even though they have a majority in both Houses and the President’s approval rating is hovering barely above freezing, the Democrats have thus far let this golden opportunity slip by as they bicker amongst themselves. With a Congress that doesn’t have the balls to take a stand against the administration, it looks like we may have to wait yet another year for a solid response to climate change.

We can only hope the hypocrisy ends here. It’s hard enough to fight social and environmental problems on our own terms. It’s a different story all together when the very agencies that are supposed to aid in this fight turn away from their stated missions and let themselves become tools for a radical neocon ideology. With the departments in Washington following the administration’s paradoxes like so many lemmings off a cliff, it seems Mr. Bush has instituted the strategy of doublethink straight out of Orwell’s 1984.

“Truth is Ignorance, Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace.” Sound familiar?

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