In the midst of all the talks about a government shutdown and the continuous failures for Congress to agree on a new budget, an issue that should be easily agreeable on, is once again, being fought by republicans. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which currently regulates greenhouse gases, is threatened to be stripped of its power and funding, an aspect that would have detrimental effects on the environment in the near future.
As of April 15, President Obama signed in a bill that cut 16 percent of the EPA’s federal budget for the rest of the fiscal year. However, it is just the beginning for what’s to come as the battles in Congress continue to rage over budgeting for the next fiscal year. The funding originally proposed for the EPA to continue its regulation and implement greenhouse gas rules has been cut, no longer allowing assistance from the federal government to help fund programs at the state and local level.
In addition to cuts for the Federal EPA, and on the state and local level, many other climate-related programs will also face budget cuts, including investments to a national forest and ocean program as well as international climate efforts. The sad thing is, in a time where proposed funding for these programs should have received an increase in funding to help the environment nationally and internationally, these programs will lose some of the funding they currently have, putting a damaging effect on the climate all-around
It is not only understandable, but needed, that the government make cuts in the budget for our economy to survive, but the issue with making cuts to environmental programs is that it has nothing to do with helping jobs or the economy. Shouldn’t Congress be more focused in looking out for the future of Americans and improving our environment than sticking to its intrinsic values?
The Clean Air Act is the law that defines the EPA’s responsibility for protecting and improving the nation’s air quality, and Republicans who have aligned themselves with the Tea Party have made repeated attempts to pass a bill prohibiting the EPA to regulate green house gas emissions and make more severe cuts in the budget. Luckily, they continue to fail. This is one of the major reasons Congress has been unable to come to a new budget agreement for the upcoming year.
According to a recent Huffington Post article, “Of the 238 Republicans constituting a majority in the House of Representatives, 237 of them could not even bring themselves to vote for an amendment that would merely acknowledge that global warming was a reality, human activity had something to do with it, and there was a possible risk to public health.” Excuse me? How could anyone not recognize that global warming exists? There is an overwhelming amount of physical evidence that supports it, not to mention, anyone who is even remotely paying attention to the outside world would notice!
Although the Obama Administration is proposing funds to make up for the current year’s budget cuts, the likelihood of any bill getting passed through the House regarding the environment or climate is slim.
Results of these budget cuts could vary, but include issues for state regulators to give greenhouse gas pollution permits needed for industrial companies, the elimination of a plan for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and huge cuts for contributions in a forest investment program—and that’s just nationally. International efforts to fight climate change will be hit, cutting more than $100 million to help developing countries provide low-carbon energy and transportation services.
Almost all state environmental budgets have declined since the recession, but environmental advocates are saying the cuts currently being proposed are more severe than ever, calling it the “most radical anti-environmental budget” in decades. Outcomes of the effects on the state and federal level are still somewhat unclear, and only the next few months will tell what could happen regarding the EPA and climate change efforts. Despite the fact that this year’s budget is already settled, we can only hope that Democrats can reason with the Republicans to prevent further cuts on environmental regulations.
Since November, when Republicans re-gained control of the House, they have made it very clear that cutting spending for environmental regulations would be a top priority. However, the issue remains that if nothing is done to help further climate efforts, it will have devastating effects on future generations, not solely in America, but across the globe.
