Larry Griffin
The Huffington Post reported Wednesday that newly-elected Rep. Matt Gaetz, representing the First District of Florida, has a bill drafted that would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency.
The bill was talked about in an email Gaetz sent to lawmakers who might co-sponsor the legislation. It was obtained by the Huffington Post and other news outlets like The Hill.
Gaetz’s reasoning is that the EPA represents gross overreach at the expense of taxpayers.
“Our small businesses cannot afford to cover the costs associated with compliance, too often leading to closed doors and unemployed Americans,” Gaetz wrote. “It is time to take back our legislative power from the EPA and abolish it permanently.”
The EPA was established by Richard Nixon 46 years ago, and is responsible for landmark acts such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Superfund Act.
While President Donald Trump said he would abolish the EPA on the campaign trail, he rolled those remarks back and later said he wanted to keep some of its functions.
6 comments
Charles Brown
February 1, 2017 at 11:22 pm
You are an idiot, Matt Gaetz. And you’re probably making gobs of money from all the polluters. You should be ashamed and embarrassed putting forth such a short-sighted, ridiculous bill. Nobody but the polluters wants this (and greed mongers like you who benefit from them). I am sure that Floridians do not want their waterways, beaches, air, and food ruined by your greedy polluter donors, so I hope Floridians have the good sense to send you packing next election. (and by the way, you can’t trust the states to set good environmental standards. without a federal standard they will reduce or eliminate their regs in attempt to lure more factories. And many state environmental regulators lack the experience to even know what they are doing). And you were not even born when the EPA was created, so you never got to see the awful environmental degradation that lead to EPA’s creation by a REPUBLICAN in the first place.
George R. Neugent
February 2, 2017 at 8:25 am
Matt, you are a Freshman Congressman be very careful how you tread. EPA came into existence under (R) President Nixon, Cuyahoga River was literally burning from pollution. The Mississippi River is dumping, along with many other streams and tributaries to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caloosahachee & Indian River Lagoon estuaries are being destroyed by toxic farfield contributions. I would suggest you disassociate yourself from t his brain fart ASAP. If you have any ambition of statewide office. George Neugent (R) Mayor Monroe County, Florida
Hannah
February 2, 2017 at 9:21 am
I don’t understand this. Florida’s economy runs on its environment! Does no one remember the devastation of the gulf coast oil spill a few years ago? Tourism and fishing plummeted. Some communities are still feeling that loss. NO ONE is going to come to our beaches or springs as a tourist if it all becomes more polluted, built-up, and void of wildlife. All that money will go to California. Also, I guess we are forgetting the federalizer company/ phosphate miners that “accidentally” dumped radioactive chemicals into the aquifer AFTER they got in “trouble” for violating environmental laws. There is very little enforcement on minimum flow laws in this state too! I could go on and on. The panhandle messed up big time electing this money-grubbing, power hungry troll monster.
P
February 2, 2017 at 10:00 am
This bill is a disgrace. Florida voters have repeatedly proven their support for the protection of the environment.
Frederica Neal
February 4, 2017 at 10:50 am
Unfortunately, Florida’s population seems to suffer from an underlying schizophrenia. We vote overwhelmingly to utilize specific funds in a specific manner, i.e. environmental protection. Then ,we (not I) elect a reactionary governor (twice) and a legislature that ignores the mandate and bows at the feet of polluters, including big sugar while they continue to pour poisons into our rivers and streams, and Florida Power and Light which received approval to store radioactive water beneath the aquifer that provides ALL of South Florida’s drinking water. They are as unconscionable as the early 20th century developers who destroyed everything in their path for profit. No, the modern pirates are worse, because they know better.
Joel Schoenberg
February 4, 2017 at 5:54 pm
Any short term gains in jobs gained will be lost in the long term by unsustainable environmental practices by those businesses. If your business needs to pollute the environment to succeed, then you should probably think about using a different business model.
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