"The Environmental Protection Agency, whose mission is "to protect human health and the environment," has now decreed that trucks and power plants can be as dirty as they want to be. Who in their right mind would call this sound decision-making? Who but people under the spell of a desperate deregulatory fever dream?"
"Higher temperatures and reduced snowpack, both attributable to a warming climate, are wreaking havoc on farmers throughout the Colorado River Basin who rely on the river to irrigate their crops. Anyone who sincerely doubts that climate change is real should visit the farmers in central Arizona who have had their supply of Colorado River water completely cut off."
"But what about actions that are being taken without any public input? Like the recent repeal of the endangerment finding, which had directed the EPA to regulate the risks that greenhouse gases pose to human health, now and in the future."
Citizens submit public comments on environmental regulations hoping their voices influence policy decisions, yet significant regulatory changes occur without public participation. The EPA repealed the endangerment finding that required regulation of greenhouse gas risks to human health, allowing trucks and power plants to operate without emissions restrictions. This deregulatory approach contradicts the EPA's stated mission to protect human health and the environment. Climate change consequences are already visible: Arizona farmers face complete cutoffs of Colorado River water due to diminishing flows caused by higher temperatures and reduced snowpack. Indigenous tribes in Montana exercise sovereignty to provide river protections unavailable through standard regulatory channels.
#environmental-deregulation #climate-change-impacts #public-participation #water-resources #epa-policy
Read at High Country News
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