I grew up 30 minutes from Lawrence, Kan., so I can handle the tree - TopicsExpress



          

I grew up 30 minutes from Lawrence, Kan., so I can handle the tree huggers, coexist-ers, PETA disciples, intolerant tolerance-preaching atheists and dirty, dreaded hippies. But, not matter how hard I try I cannot stand the fact that we, the taxpayers, single-handedly fund the “Environmental Protection” Agency that was deemed 94 percent unessential. Recently, the federal government has been shutdown due to Congress’ inability to create a new budget. Have you heard? During this shutdown, any “non-essential” program is temporarily closed until a new budget has been set. Does anyone know why we have non-essential programs in the first place? Yeah, me either. According to a Sept. 30 article in The Huffington Post by Kate Sheppard, 94 percent of the EPA’s employees were considered nonessential and were furloughed until further notice. That means that the taxpayer helps fund roughly 15,286 non-essential salaries a year. Do you know how many trees we could plant with that amount of money? Or “medical” marijuana plants? Where you at, Colorado? Furthermore, let’s not pretend that the EPA isn’t a key component of the left. The EPA has been a team player in both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. Although, sometimes I think the EPA and Obama administration aren’t focusing on hope and change, but are secretly hoping for change – climate change, that is. Have you noticed that the language on the left during the past decade has changed from “global warming” to “climate change?” That’s because the world is not getting warmer. The polar ice caps increased in size by 60 percent just this summer. The only heat we need to be concerned with right now is coming from the Middle East. So what I’m proposing is that we get rid of the unnecessary 94 percent within the EPA and keep the remaining 6 percent that manages potential chemical spills, rail derailments and water/plant testing. Then, have President Obama give the Keystone Pipeline a green light, and boom: those 15,286 workers are transferred to the Pipeline project and aren’t left jobless. Meanwhile, our country won’t be forced to rely on foreign nations nearly as much. But, I’m just a kid; what do I know, right? Again, I may not be a scientist, but I like to pretend I’m doing all right in the common sense department, and my common sense tells me that the amounts and types of regulations the EPA has passed recently are almost as irrational as the new Miley Cyrus. The forgotten worker, the farmer, is the American that arguably gets hit the hardest by such regulations. Not only do farm families have to play nice with the Food and Drug Administration, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and U.S. Department of Agriculture, but they are also bullied by the EPA. For example, under Section 404 and Swampbuster, if it rains on any type of farmland, and rainwater gathers on the property, the landowner has to first obtain a permit before he can drain the water, because it is deemed a “wetland of the United States.” Doesn’t that seem a bit “nonessential?” Those pesky, little puddles. Also, after 2011, the EPA has passed several new standards that affect non-road diesel engines. These new standards are requiring a decrease in horsepower and, in turn, fuel efficiency among farming machinery. This costs the farmer time, fuel and machine proficiency. But hey, at least Al Gore is happy. If the farmer should choose to not follow these regulations, or violate any water run-off standard, we can just fire up one of the EPA’s taxpayer funded drones to take photos of their land, in order to force compliance. I’m farming and I grow it? More like you’re farming, and the government knows everything about it. The core of my argument is: why? Why are we funding billions of citizen’s dollars to a department that is almost “nonessential” in its entirety? The EPA was responsible, in a large part, for the 93 new federal regulations passed within the first three days of President Obama’s second term. 93 regulations in three days. Think about it. If President Obama thinks I only need to make a certain amount of money in my lifetime, then the EPA only needs to pass so many regulations. It’s only fair. Laura Meyers is a freshman in journalism and political science. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 18:53:45 +0000

Trending Topics



Recently Viewed Topics




© 2015