Another Piece of Current GOP Orthodoxy: Scrap the EPA
June 20, 2011 1 Comment
Note the bobbing heads of other presidential candidates at the GOP “debate” as Rep. Michelle Bachmann joins the chorus of congressmen hoping to de-fund and de-fang (heck, to eliminate) the Environmental Protection Agency.
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Much more on the assault on the EPA in further posts. Newt Gingrich (Gingrich on EPA) and Rep. Barletta (Barletta on EPA) are merely echoing what has been going on in congressional committees all year. Interesting how tone deaf this major congressional initiative is with the voices of most Americans (Americans on EPA).
About Scott Brophy
Scott Brophy is a philosophy professor whose work is focused on the intersection of philosophy and public policy, especially on environmental issues, law, and education. He has also taught philosophy of science, logic, and the history of philosophy. He has served as a consultant for educational programs and schools throughout the U.S. and abroad, and as an adviser to several philanthropic foundations.
SayWhat? 
You know I think one fascinating piece of this line of attack on the EPA as well as a number of other progressive initiatives (the stimulus, healthcare reform) is the irrational and rarely explained “job killer” name tag that Bachmann and others seem to so love.
I would love to see (and I wonder if there is one floating around) a study of the long-term negative economic impacts that one might project spiraling out of unregulated pollution – the negative pull on the health system, etc.
Meanwhile, while I don’t have my hands on something like that, a mutual friend of ours, a Mr. Zahn recently sent me a link (below) to an opinion piece that takes on the idea that government spending kills jobs. Now, on its face this would seem different from the attack on the EPA, where the logic seems to be regulation kills jobs, but when I watched the video, Bachmann seems to be making a general point that when the government spends money, it kills all kinds of jobs. Mr. Alan Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, and someone writing in this case on the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal (not exactly the most liberal of opinion pages) doesn’t exactly agree with that idea. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303635604576392023187860688.html