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Pollution, by ribarnica on flickr, creative commons.
Voting 247 times in the last 18 months to undermine regulations that protect the environment, the “House of Representatives has become the most anti-environment House in the history of Congress,” according to a June 18, 2012 report (PDF) prepared for Congress members Henry Waxman and Edward Markey.
House Republicans have repeatedly voted to undermine basic environmental protections that have existed for decades. They have voted to block actions to prevent air pollution; to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of authority to enforce water pollution standards; to halt efforts to address climate change; to stop the Department of the Interior from identifying lands suitable for wilderness designations; to allow oil and gas development off the coasts of Florida, California, and other states opposed to offshore drilling; and to slash funding for the Department of Energy, including funding to support renewable energy and energy efficiency, by more than 80%. The House of Representatives averaged one anti-environmental vote for every day the House was in session in 2011 and the first half of 2012. Of the 1,100 legislative roll call votes taken in the House since the beginning of 2011, 19% – almost one out of every five – were votes to undermine environmental protection. During these roll calls, 94% of Republican members voted for the anti-environment position, while 87% of Democratic members voted for the pro-environment position.
The report explains that the oil and gas industry is the largest beneficiary of the numerous Republican votes to dismantle environmental protections. Perhaps the oil and gas industry stands to profit in the short term, but what about the cost of environmental destruction in the long term? House Republicans have voted to undermine The Clean Air Act that was signed into law in 1970 by President Nixon. According to an EPA full report, the benefits of the Clean Air Act outweigh the costs by a factor of four to one. In 2010, according to EPA, the Clean Air Act:
saved over 160,000 lives; avoided more than 100,000 hospital visits; prevented millions of cases of respiratory problems, including bronchitis and asthma; enhanced productivity by preventing 13 million lost workdays; and kept kids healthy and in school, avoiding 3.2 million lost school days due to respiratory illness and other diseases caused or exacerbated by air pollution.
In addition, House Republicans have voted to remove protections for public lands, fish and wildlife. These are areas that contain scenic wonders as well as endangered species.
America’s public lands and resources also supported two million jobs and generated $363 billion in revenue in 2010. Yet House Republicans voted 39 times to weaken environmental protections on public lands in 2011 and the first half of 2012.
Why would, and how could, anyone vote to destroy the national parks? The litany continues:
•77 votes to undermine Clean Air Act protections, including votes to repeal the health-based standards that are the heart of the Clean Air Act and to block EPA regulation of toxic mercury and other harmful emissions from power plants, incinerators, industrial boilers, cement plants, and mining operations. • 39 votes to weaken protection of public lands and wildlife, including votes to halt reviews of public lands for possible wilderness designations and to remove protections for salmon, wolves, sea turtles, and other species. • 37 votes to block action to address climate change, including votes to overturn EPA’s scientific findings that climate change endangers human health and welfare; to block EPA from regulating carbon pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and vehicles; to prevent the United States from participating in international climate negotiations; and even to cut funding for basic climate science. • 31 votes to undermine Clean Water Act protections, including votes to strip EPA of authority to set water quality standards and enforce limits on industrial discharges; to repeal EPA’s authority to stop mountaintop removal mining disposal; and to block EPA from protecting headwaters and wetlands that flow into navigable waters.
Is the current House of Representatives looking to win a world record for voting to put the environment on a fast track to destruction? The full report is here (PDF), if you can even stand to read it.
53 Comments
These actions are insane, suicidal.
Way worse than I dreamed or thought, I must admit, normanb.
If you offered America a ten cent a gallon price decrease, we’d let you drill/frack in a childrens hospital.
Boxturtle (But who cares? Somebody elses kids will pay the price after we’re dead)
And just to make your day better, we don’t have the people to enforce the remaining regulations anyway.
Let nothing stand in the way of cheap gasoline!
Boxturtle (Except sabre rattling with Iran, that’s okay)
Excellent points, Boxturtle. And on that children’s hospital drilling, well, most children are poor anyway, so no one cares, I guess.
Sad. Not even a tapping of the brakes or a backward glance. Just balls-to-the-wall environmental destruction until everything runs out and everything else dies.
On edit. I corrected some spelling. Jeez.
When the democrats had the presidency, the HOR by almost 40 votes, and the Senate they went out of their way to put environmentalists at the back of the line. Even the Renewable Energy Standards, which the republicans were willing to concede, fell victim. Changes are for the future when a republican or like minded democrat like Obama can cancel them as he did with the smog regulations of his own EPA. For verification with 83 references see Environment – http://newprogs.org/blog/2011/11/08/environment-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
Somehow I suspected as much. Was looking today at Romney vs Obama on the environment, for example. Not much difference, I am afraid.
It’s just like iraq. If Iraq had just coughed up the WMD’s that they hid from us, we wouldn’t have invaded. If Earth would just cought up the oil she’s hidden from us, we wouldn’t drill.
Boxturtle (Not our fault that Mother Earth insists on doing it the hard way)
What me worry?
Rape of the natural world?
Non-renewable energy resources?
Have no fear, my dear.
It’s all in ‘god’s’ plan for mankind, for with the end of the world scheduled, if the weather holds, for April 1, 2013, and with the ‘rapture’ quickly approaching ,there is no need for conservation.
Put your trust in ‘god’ and your gelt in CDs.
Yeah, right!
Ebonics to the rescue: We all be fucked!!!
Thanks and recommended
From the looks of it, we pretty much are fucked. Thank you for reading and for the rec. I knew the greed was bad, I just didn’t know it was this bad, on the environmental issue.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
“Drought Concerns Send Grain Futures Soaring”…
http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2012/06/20/drought-concerns-send-grain-futures-soaring
The beginnings of what may become a rather serious drought in the southern and eastern Corn Belt may trigger grain traders to begin pricing a “weather risk premium” into futures and especially options on grain futures as concerns will now center on how much Corn and Soybean yields will be hurt by the rough start to the growing season. This season is especially critical given tight global old crop supplies.”
elsewhere Duluth Minnesota:
“I think it’s probably been the worst flooding we’ve ever had at the zoo,” Wolniakowski said. A train depot was completely underwater, she said.
up to 8 inches of rain fell on the area overnight and the soaking continued Wednesday.
(me here, radio from there said still raining, and another five inches may fall)
Elsewhere in Duluth, Interstate 35 and downtown tunnels were closed and police and the Carlton County Sheriff’s Department recommended emergency travel only, warning that numerous sinkholes and washouts were making driving dangerous.
“It’s a mess. There are too many intersections to even list that are closed,” Hansen said.
Longtime residents say they haven’t seen flooding of this magnitude since 1972.
Authorities asked residents of the Fond du Lac neighborhood in Duluth to leave their homes because of concerns about the rising level of the St. Louis River.
and in colorado:
“It’s already been a hot dry summer across the West. Here in Colorado Springs the temperature has set record highs in the upper 90s for the past three days and the humidity has generally been below five percent. That, coupled with what little rain has fallen during the past few months, has created a huge forest fire danger.
Already northern Colorado west of Fort Collins has been decimated by the High Park Fire, a 65,738-acre blaze that is still raging through Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests. Six other forest fires are currently burning in Colorado alone, including the 1,145-acre Springer Fire some 45 miles west of Colorado Springs.
The Springer Fire started on Sunday, June 17. The forest fire, fanned by wind, swept eastward burning over ridges and low mountains toward the South Platte River and Elevenmile Canyon.
Elevenmile Canyon is simply one of Colorado’s best moderate climbing areas, with lots of granite crags, cliffs, and outcrops. The canyon offers a couple hundred routes in a gorgeous mountain setting, with the South Platte River alternately meandering through meadows and dashing through rapids.
Until this week, a forest of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir blanketed the mountainsides below the cliffs.
The Springer Fire, however, spread southeast from its origin on Monday and Tuesday and reached the river at the most popular cliffs in Elevenmile Canyon, burning out Turret Dome, Messenger Wall, and several small crag areas including the Sport Wall”
http://climbing.about.com/b/2012/06/20/forest-fire-torches-cliffs-at-elevenmile-canyon.htm
and
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120620/NEWS/120619829/1077&ParentProfile=1058
” The(Colorado) forecast is for hot and dry weather for at least the next two weeks. The moisture content for fuels and soils in the White River National Forest is already dreadfully dry — even though the official start to summer doesn’t arrive until Thursday.
Fitzwilliams said experts on his staff have measured the moisture content in 1,000-hour fuels — basically, the big logs — at 3.5 to 8.5 percent. In comparison, kiln-dried lumber has a moisture content of about 12 percent. Soil moistures above 8,000 feet in elevation are between 5 and 10 percent. They should be 40 to 60 percent, Fitzwilliams said.
Meanwhile, the specter of the High Park Fire looms over all public lands managers in the state and rural fire departments. The fire west and northwest of Fort Collins has consumed more than 50,000 acres and destroyed 189 homes, making it the most destructive for property loss in the history of Colorado.
still, we can feel good, cause we know, that climate change is a hoax, and we can’t do anything about it any way, right?
not looking good at all is it?
“Soil moistures above 8,000 feet in elevation are between 5 and 10 percent. They should be 40 to 60 percent, Fitzwilliams said.”
trees that don’t burn quickly, will simply weaken and die slowly. They can’t live without moisture.
The Province of British Columbia Canada has thousands of sq. miles of dead pine forest, killed because the winters are too warm to kill the pine bark beetle that attacks them fatally, and under normal winter conditions is held in check.
not anymore, due to abnormal mild winters.
I predict that one of these days, that dead forest is going to go up in flames, and might be the final tipping point. one of them any way.
sorry, just one more thing, the prediction of the widely attacked climate scientists, was for unpredictable weather events with extremes of rainfall, and drought.
which is exactly what we are having.
Is this Mad magazine,…
…or, is it the Bizarro Universe?
No, it isn’t looking good. The boreal forests from Canada to Mexico are already stressed and in decline, due to the beetle epidenic. The beetles take advantage of the warmer climate for extended mating seasons, and when the trees die, they become tinder for more fires, escalating the cascade of destruction. The boreal forests, to my understanding, used to be carbon sinks and now they are carbon producers.
These House of Representative voters should each be issued a straw to breathe through for the whole day when they vote against things like the Clean Air Act…because that is about what it must feel like for folks with asthma, for example, trying to breathe in pollutants.
Excellent comments, mafr. Perhaps you would consider an essay (blog) so that readers are aware. I do see at #13 you commented on the beetles.
This is an important topic for everyone who has any interest in the environment, and I appreciate your additional information and comments, thank you.
you’re very welcome.
I’m glad for your diary. Not a popular topic at firedoglake I’m afraid.
As I read at The roundup the other day, it is the “overarching issue of our time”
The dead pine forests are gigantic matches; once lit, they will be gone. I can’t imagine how many non human creatures that depend on them are suffering now.
I have a nephew who lives in Vail, and who worked both as a volunteer (wildfire) fireman as well as a person who went door to door to identify stressed and dying ‘beetlewood’ trees, and according to his reports, it is a tragic mess.
I keep sort of hoping for a ‘green’ or ‘nature and environment’ button at the Lake, but with the upcoming election, I am sure they have plenty on their plate- lots of stuff to report!
But of course. Republicans, and especially their paymasters, live on a different planet, Planet Denial.
Isn’t that it. If there were an Olympic team for Denial, they might want to join.
Funny thing is, they breathe the same air, drink the same water as the rest of us.
Yeah. Amazing that they can, like, blend in with the rest of the passing public.
Be that as it may, why would they be in such a great big hurry to pollute the resources that they need, and that their own future generations need?
Greed is a very hard animal to tame, I suppose.
by the way article at climateprogress:
“New Report: Outdoor Recreation Industry Jobs Outnumber Those In Oil And Gas Nearly Three to One
By Public Lands Team on Jun 20, 2012 at 1:51 pm
By Jessica Goad”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/issue/
How many lobbyists do have and how many reps do the lobbyists buy?
Correction:
How many lobbyists do they have and how many reps do their lobbyists buy?
Authoritarians practice Denial with such vigor.
They even dismiss question. “That’s a stupid question” is a common response.
The deniers are really good at denying, I agree. Another common one is, “That never happened.”
When their grandchildren are choking because they have asthma, will they wonder what caused it? When water is rationed, will they be amazed about where it all went? They are sowing the seeds of their own destruction along with ours.
CS, thanks for the excellent post.
Thank you, Crane-Station for loving our environment and for writing this post.
I just got back from a few days camping. Mother nature gives, big time.
I am afraid the TPP will make our congress critters look like girl scout’s planting flowers.
Thank’s Crane-Station for this post.
Reading through the report I was po’d. but in the typical way, and I know that the Dems constancy for militarism and big biz makes them just as liable for envnmntl collapse as anyone.
But around page 25 and 26 my blood began to boil. These idiots, these sociopathic scum will never stop, not until it is too late, if it isn’t already. Ahhh, if I was a violent man, I might do what they want me to, but that is probably just the rye talking now. Breathe deep. I am here now.
What can you do when faced with such an evil, and such a disciplined composure?
starting to look like sociopaths rise to the top of the capitalist system, and then destroy the world from the top down . shouldn’t members of congress have to take some psychological tests to determine if they are psychopaths or not ? and if they fail the test, they could always get a job over on wall street.
I don’t know how anyone can not think this through, and care enough about their children to not want very basic clean water and air. It makes no sense at all. Thank you for your comment, Twain.
Remember… It will be ‘Game Over’ for our Climate if the Keystone XL pipeline is built…! 8-(
Today we were out on our bikes, trying to not leave our carbon footprint quite so much, and we passed a place where there were pine trees. It is very warm, hot actually, and the smell of pine made me so want to go camping. And I wondered, will I ever go camping again? It was a sad moment, but I am determined to go camping again someday. I really miss it. Thank you, demi.
”
What can you do when faced with such an evil, and such a disciplined composure?”
I don’t know how to accept the unacceptable. I really don’t. The report was heartbreaking. And I do not know the answers at this point. I was stunned.
congrats on getting your excellent diary front paged at fdl prime. tweeted and recommended with thanks
Exactly. These folks who are determining the future of the environment are not versed in science or medicine or ecology either. They are versed in short-term money. So yeah, why not Wall Street?
Excellent point, KilgourTrout.
Thank you so much Suzanne. I was shocked, and Mason said, “Quick. Get a screen capture!” BTW, I think I remember speaking to you, or at least I think it may have been you, one time on the phone about a year ago. It was really cool to hear a real voice- we had such a nice conversation, I remember!
i was thinking we had spoken too — iirc it was a thank you for being a member call
Yes, it looks pretty grim. I just was not aware how grim, until I saw this awful report.
I signed the petition that you linked in your comment, CTuttle, and I urge others to do the same. There are alternative options for energy, but it looks like they have all been voted down. I have read some of the biologist reports on Tar Sands. Don’t see how those scientists can be ignored.
Yes, and did you not have a leg injury? A fracture? How are you recovering? I can relate…
PS Please forgive if I am wrong!
Mahalo, CS…! Congrats on being front paged, too…! *g*
I had to listen to this to calm me down.
Commenter applepie above mentioned page 26 in the report.
Page 26 is titled, “Blocking Efforts to Prevent Climate Change
Votes to Reject Scientific Findings”
…if you can even get that far. It’s pretty shocking.
Excellent choice, applepie.
sorry, was afk — i did break my right knee and ankle — was living in a hospital bed in my daughter’s living room for 4 months while recovering from surgery. moved into my own place the first of this month and am learning how to walk again.
Bless your heart. That is a big injury. Life-altering, actually. When you graduate from those motorized scooters in the grocery and begin to take steps, the grocery cart makes a pretty decent walker. So many places are not designed for easy access, it seems. When you notice that a minute has gone by when you are not in pain, that will be a day to celebrate. I hope that day comes soon for you!
Quite the eye opening report, CS. Thank you.
This particular congress truly stands in a league of its own, when it comes to sticking their fingers in their ears and saying “I can’t hear you..” and “No, no, no, I won’t look, you can’t make me.”
I don’t always comment, CS, but I always read and enjoy your posts. Keep ‘em comin’.
Well, yes, the are in a league of their own. Out of their league, if you ask me. It is one thing to be out-leagued in science, but not to take the time and effort to become informed on the science, but rather to ignore, or worse, deny science outright rather than giving it careful consideration is reckless and selfish, I believe.
Thank you for your comment, walkinboots, it means a lot, and, I look for your byline as well. I thought the post about beads was important and moving. You too, keep ‘em coming.
Very sad and shocking topic, CS. Needs all the press it can get, so thanks for the diary and well-deserved congrats on the frontpage at the mothership.
I cannot understand how any Congress can survive ANY attack on the Great American Treasure that the National Parks system is … ever since I first heard of this I have been sick about it. It’s incomprehensible, evil, and craven.
I don’t understand how they can call themselves patriotic Americans and do this to the country.