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EPA Doles-Out Taxpayer Dollars to Environmentalist = Activist=20 Groups

Posted May 19th, = 2011 at=20 12:19pm in Energy and Environment with 5=20 comments Print This Post

In November 2009, a dozen=20 protesters triggered a traffic jam in an intersection of Chicago=92s = financial=20 sector by laying down in a circle in the middle of the road, locking = their arms=20 together inside pieces of pipe. They were protesting the city=92s = climate=20 exchange, part of a scheme to regulate CO2 emissions through permits.=20 Ironically, it was a case of a left-leaning plan being attacked by the = far=20 left.

After a few hours, the activists were arrested, including among their = ranks=20 members of groups like the Little Village Environmental Justice = Organization=20 (LVEJO). According to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website,=20 about six months later, the agency awarded LVEJO a $25,000 environmental = justice=20 grant,=20 which was to be directed to =93=85work[ing] in coalition with their = partners to=20 implement 3 areas of Climate Change Mitigation=85=94 The first = =93area=94 is to=20 =93=85conduct a grassroots Clean Power Campaign in the Chicago Region to = address=20 coal power plant emissions=85=94

If EPA=92s grant was an attempt get LVEJO to change its tactics, it = doesn=92t=20 seem to have worked. After getting the grant, a half dozen activists = from LVEJO=20 and other groups were arrested after climbing the fence to a coal-fired = power=20 plant and unfurling a banner that read: =93Close Chicago=92s Toxic Coal=20 Plant.=94 Even amid America=92s deficit crisis, the = EPA has enough=20 walking-around money to fund green radicals harassing EPA-regulated = businesses=20 in President Barack Obama=92s hometown =97 coincidentally, the same = President=20 who spoke= =20 of bankrupting new coal-fired power plants.

Although the rest of the nation has had to tighten its belt, that has = not=20 been the case for the EPA. The Obama=20 Administration=92s first budget increased EPA funding to $10.3 = billion, a=20 whopping 36% over the preceding fiscal year. While the President=92s = current=20 budget request is down from the all-time high, it is still more than 20% = over=20 the FY 2008 budget.

As we search for means to cut Washington=92s waste, grants like the = one to=20 LVEJO should move to the front of the line, where it should have lots of = company. According to the Catalog=20 of Federal Domestic Assistance, there are 2,141 federal grant = programs with=20 some 109=20 coming out of the EPA. By the EPA=92s own grant database, over the last = ten years,=20 the agency has bellied up to the bar and bought drinks for many of its = friends=20 at the taxpayers=92 expense. Within the past decade, the EPA=20 awarded or continues to have open more than 7,500 grants, totaling=20 $3,847,160,250 to non-profit groups alone.

While some EPA grant recipients like the American Lung Association = may seem=20 more palatable than LVEJO, many have shown themselves to be reliable=20 reactionaries for the EPA. The American Lung Association recently came = to the=20 agency=92s defense, stating:

Polluters and some members of Congress want to interfere with = EPA=92s ability=20 to protect public health. Most Americans believe that the Clean Air = Act needs=20 protecting. We are fighting hard to prevent anyone from weakening or=20 undermining the law or the protective standards the law provides. We = are=20 fighting to ensure EPA has the legal authority and necessary funding = to=20 continue to protect public health.=94

Exactly what kind of nefarious plans by =93[p]olluters and some = members of=20 Congress=94 to damage public health is the American Lung = Association seeking=20 to thwart? One of their efforts=20 is targeted at defeating a bill=20 that seeks to stop the EPA from doing an end run around Congress and = regulating=20 greenhouse gases =96 carbon dioxide =96 under the Clean Air Act. Money = can=92t buy=20 passion like that, but if it could, the 164=20 EPA grants to various American Lung Association groups totaling over = $20,000,000 within the past decade might help.

Other EPA grantees grab grants of tax dollars in one hand while = collecting=20 attorney fees from the federal government with the other. Wild Earth = Guardians,=20 for example, states in its annual = report that it=20 received grants not only from the EPA, but also the U.S. Fish and = Wildlife=20 Service and the U.S. Forest Service, which, along with state, county and = city=20 grants, totaled well over a half million in 2009.

The Washington Post recently reported on a settlement=20 between Wild Earth Guardians and the federal Government =93that could = pave the way=20 for an avalanche=94 of endangered species. Under the settlement the US = Fish and=20 Wildlife Service will take action on 251=20 species considered as =93candidates=94 for addition to the = Endangered Species=20 List =97 along with 9 subspecies of the same species of pocket gopher in = the state=20 of Washington, 36 insects including 10 kinds of cave beetle, 18 clams = and 23=20 snails is Digitaria pauciflora.

For the non-botanists, the common name of this species is Florida=20 Pineland crabgrass and yes, it belongs to the same=20 group of crab grasses (it is one of 68 such species) that = suburbanites=20 constantly battle. The fear is that Florida Pineland crabgrass could be = driven=20 to extinction if global warming causes the oceans to rise and swallow = the tip of=20 southern Florida, this species=92 habitat. While USFWS states this = threat is=20 =93currently low, but expected to be severe in the future,=94 one must = ask, even if=20 the preposterous apocalyptic scenario played out, wouldn=92t there be = bigger=20 worries like, say, the fate of Miami?

The list goes on with environmental justice groups like North=20 Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN) and Detroiters = Working for=20 Environmental Justice. The former seeks to =93to accomplish [its] = goals=20 through organizing, advocacy, research, and education based on = principles of=20 economic equity and democracy for all people.=94 The latter=92s = worldview (along=20 with NCEJN=92s), is outlined in =9317 Principles of = Environmental=20 Justice=94 that it adopted.

The preamble to that document states that, among other things, = signatories=20 =93do hereby re-establish our spiritual interdependence to the = sacredness of our=20 Mother Earth=85=94 and seek =93to secure our political, economic, and = cultural=20 liberation that has been denied for over 500 years of colonization and=20 oppression=85=94

The EPA even has a history of giving taxpayer money to the California = Indian=20 Basketweavers Association, which doesn=92t just dedicate itself = =93to=20 preserving, promoting, and perpetuating California Indian basketweaving = cultural=20 traditions=94 but also champions =93a healthy physical, social, = spiritual, and=20 economic environment for basketweavers=85=94

Throwing money around like this goes far beyond waste. It is a brazen = offense=20 to most taxpayers. If Congress doesn=92t have the will to slash this = kind of=20 stuff, what can it cut?

Co-Authored by Meera Yogesh, a member of The Heritage = Foundation=20 Young Leaders Program.

Tags: EPA,=20 spending

Author: Robert = Gordon

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5 Responses to =93EPA Doles-Out Taxpayer Dollars to=20 Environmentalist Activist Groups=94

Chris Skates, Paducah Kentucky on = May 19th, 2011 = at=20 1:14pm=20 said:

Mr. Gordon=92s article is right on! The crux of the matter is that = these=20 leftist environmental groups must be brought under control. Congress = must=20 become accutely aware of some of these groups to determine their = motives and=20 their ultimate goals. I suspect that they will find those goals = counter to=20 what is best for the United States.

Chris Skates
Author of the novel, Going Green: For Some It Has = Nothing=20 To Do With The Environment.
Ron Arnold, Bellevue, Washington on = May 19th, 2011 = at=20 1:46pm=20 said:

This is one of the best pieces of investigative reporting I=92ve = seen in=20 years. Rob Gordon not only reveals the gross mass stupidity of federal = grants,=20 he also had the good grace to link to his sources, which will help = future=20 researchers who might otherwise get lost trying to trace federal = grants=20 piecemeal. Great work, and keep it up. And thanks, Rob, from an old=20 friend.
Ron Arnold
Executive Vice President
Center for the = Defense of=20 Free Enterprise
OutdoorsmanUSA on May 19th, 2011 = at=20 2:59pm=20 said:

Thank you for continuing to write about the ways that EPA is = abusing, not=20 utilizing, conservation dollars. This is an appalling abuse and is a=20 waste/fraud/abuse red flag.
Jee on May 19th, 2011 = at=20 5:26pm=20 said:

Please check out whetner Lung Association grants were laundered to = pay for=20 ads in the last California election. The ALA had ads against the = anti-cap and=20 trade proposition. The leader of the ALA appeared in the ads, and let = me tell=20 you, she looked uncomfortable..
George Colgrove, VA on May 20th, 2011 = at=20 5:50am=20 said:

The EPA is a political organization paid for by taxdollars against = the=20 wishes and will of the people. It hurts business and stops growth. It = is not=20 an enumerated duty spelled out in the constitution and every state has = a=20 duplicative version of it.

We do not need this agency and we do not need these politcal hacks=20 redistributing our money =96 close it down.

Click here to cancel reply.=20

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