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January 31, 2006
Another Win for Big Industry, Another Loss for the Environment
It seems that the EPA has just approved a deal to designed by the Farming Industry, which will allow them to disregard environmental regulations for up to four years for the purpose of "studying" pollution.
The Bush administration will exempt thousands of farms that raise poultry, cattle and hogs from heavy fines for fouling the air and water with animal excrement in exchange for data to help curb future pollution.
The Environmental Protection Agency has signed agreements with 2,681 animal feeding operations in the egg, chicken, turkey, dairy and hog industries. They would be exempt from having to pay potential fines of up to $27,500 a day for violations either in the past or over the next four years.
The Sierra Club responds
What is most disturbing is that the deal was created by the polluters and for the polluters. Industry lobbyists approached the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the fall of 2001 with their own proposal, and the administration's final deal closely mirrors the polluters' wish list. What's more, leaked electronic mail correspondence revealed the frequent and close access that polluters had to the administration: from private monthly meetings, to the chance to draft presentations for EPA officials to deliver.
Similar to the Insurance Industry, which wrote most of the new Senior Prescription Drug Plan, industry lobbyists secured a huge win for their clients.
Thanks to Bad Attitudes (BA) for the information and links.
Posted by Chip Spear at January 31, 2006 3:17 PM
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