Going Rogue, Part III: The EPA Ignores Rules it Finds Inconvenient

Commentary by James H. Shott


What do Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the Center for Coastal Conservation have in common with the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, the Consumer Federation of America, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, and the Center for Auto Safety?

And what do those two groups have in common with the Union of Concerned Scientists and the American Conservative Union? What strange force can unite these diverse organizations?

Would you believe that they are united against a proposed action by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?

The EPA was created in 1970 by President Richard Nixon and passed into law by Congress. The 17,000-person agency has primary responsibility for setting and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, and has been such a bulldog in enforcing environmental rules in the past that you might be surprised to learn that this year the agency has abandoned the rules it expects others to follow.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) informs us that “The Environmental Protection Agency has indicated it may take action later this year to approve higher levels of ethanol in fuel blends, even though critical vehicle tests and environmental analyses mandated by the Clean Air Act have not yet been completed.”

But as serious as that is, the problem is much broader than the mere fact that the EPA has forsaken the timetable for making the decision of whether to increase the amount of ethanol in fuel blends from the current 10 percent (E10) to 15 percent (E15), and the unknowns of this action have this diverse group – many of whom have been bitter enemies in the past – uniting against the agency’s action.

“What’s the big deal?” you ask. “Isn’t it better for the environment if the amount of ethanol in gasoline is increased?” Maybe; but maybe not. That is what is to be determined by the scientific review process and through comments by various interested parties, and that is why the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, along with 40 other associations and organizations, have written EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging the EPA to base its decision to increase ethanol levels on a complete scientific record that includes up-to-date information and public comment on data and testing.

If the decision to increase ethanol levels by 50 percent is made this year, perhaps as early as this month, it will short-circuit the process outlined by the Clean Air Act, which mandates a detailed scientific review before new fuels, additives or fuel blends are introduced into commercial fuels, and scientific reviews of E15’s impact won’t be completed until next year.

“We write to express our concern that EPA may decide to allow the introduction into commerce of mid-level ethanol blends such as E15 based on new information that was not available for public comment when the docket was open last year,” the coalition stated. “We respectfully but strongly request that EPA provide for a second period of public comment on any data, tests, or studies that EPA may take into consideration in making its determination if such information was not available for review and comment as of the close of the initial public comment period on July 20, 2009.”

At issue is the degree to which fuels with increased ethanol levels will be compatible with today’s equipment. Ethanol is very corrosive, and could harm equipment such as automobile engines and gasoline station pumps and storage tanks. API suggests that problems may exist with storage and dispensing equipment that may create additional environmental problems through spills and leaks, which in turn could pose a threat to consumer safety. And, higher-level ethanol blends like E15 could also threaten vehicle performance and safety, void manufacturers’ warranties and confuse consumers.

“Higher levels of ethanol blends in gasoline have not yet been proven safe or effective, and it would be a mistake for EPA to act before all necessary testing is completed,” API said. The scientific reviews of E15’s impact on vehicle engines won’t be completed until 2011.

The EPA is a controversial agency and many of its actions draw strong opposition, because they seem heavy-handed and arbitrary. And increasingly, the EPA appears to have become an arm of the environmental movement. The decision last March to block a West Virginia mountaintop coal mine that had already received a federal permit is but one example. Mountaintop mining is unpopular among environmentalists, but mining is a fundamental part of West Virginia’s economy.

However, no issue illustrates this more effectively than the EPA position on carbon emissions. While Congress is reluctant to regulate carbon emissions, because cooler heads in both parties worry about the negative economic impacts of doing so, the EPA has inasmuch as said, “If you don’t regulate carbon emissions, we will.”

Most serious problems in the United States today can be linked to government interference. Our government is not only too big and too intrusive, but agencies like the EPA are increasingly ideologically driven, and sometimes ignore the rules the rest of us are expected to follow when those rules interfere with its ideological agenda.

Cross-posted from Observations

Obama Wants To Dig The Hole Even Deeper!

Obama Wants To Dig The Hole Even Deeper!
Obama Wants to Spend 50 Billion $$ More -- Driving America Deeper in Debt.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

What IS it with Democrats? Common sense tells us that one cannot spend one’s self out of debt. Common sense also tells us the national pocketbook is not bottomless. Sooner or later we will run out of money.

The first rule of “Hole Digging” is: When you find yourself in one – stop digging!

America, if you have ever been outraged at an administration which, it appears, is out to bankrupt America and collapse its entire economic and financial system, then by all that is good and kind, NOW is the time.

Look, Obama and his fellow socialist-liberal cohorts in the Congress have spent all your money, all your children’s money and all your grand children’s money, borrowed all the money they can get their hands on – and spent that—and have the treasury’s printing presses printing even more cash that will, eventually, bring this country the worst inflation America has ever seen.

Now Obama is calling it “Infrastructure investments!” You want the REAL name for it? Well, we’ll give it to you, anyway – “VOTE BUYING!”

Look, this whole new scam (called infrastructure investments) by Obama and the liberal-socialists is just a desperate attempt to create a few jobs before the election November 2nd. That is ALL this is.

You can bet when Republicans vote against these ”spending” bills they will be mocked by the democrats as ”anti-job Bushites,” or some such elementary school epithet.

It is so transparent that it is pathetic! Even some of Obama’s own liberal-socialist comrades in the Congress are so embarrassed that it is such a clumsy move, and one so easily identified as a scam, that they are running from it – and Obama.

Oh, and lest we forget, or over look it, the experts in Washington are referring to this 50 billion as the “Initial” investment.

The plain truth is we will never get the job market started again until the crazies in the Congress and the West Wing, stop their BS and get serious about bringing some stability to America’s financial and economic system.

You have, no doubt, heard that American business is sitting on a pot of money and that profits are high for business currently. That is true. Like a turtle, business has pulled its head and limbs inside the shell until conditions are favorable again.

With an obviously anti-business government in Washington businesses, large or small, are not about to risk their companies by doing anything other than protecting what they have RIGHT NOW. And guess what? They will continue to squat in a protective posture until Washington brings stability back to America’s financial and economic system.

You want to see jobs created? If so, get rid of the liberal-socialists and progressives, in the US government. In fact, get rid of the anti-business government with which America is currently saddled and yoked. That means cleaning out the Congress and the White House in a good old-fashioned political purge at the polls this November and again in November of 2012.

Obama’s brain trust in the White House are aware of the electorate’s still simmering anger over the 814 billion dollar (so-called) stimulus plan and the sky-rocketing deficits. As a result they are falling back on the tried and true method -- Incrementalism. They will push for many smaller stimulus plans instead of one huge plan as before. This 50 billion dollar “infrastructure investment” is just ONE of MANY small plans they intend to push in the next few weeks and months.

It is just the tip of the iceberg.

Once again, to the barricades! We must stop this continual hemorrhaging of cash from the American pocketbook. We need to let our Congresspersons and Senators know that we want it stopped -- post haste.

What America needs now is fundamental change in the personnel in the Congress and in the White House. We can insure that change begins on November 2nd.

J. D. Longstreet

I Don’t Celebrate Labor Day

I Don’t Celebrate Labor Day

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Today is Labor Day in the US. Labor Day is a celebration of Labor Unions. I don‘t support labor unions; therefore, I do not celebrate Labor Day.

In case you doubt me on the original intent of the Labor Day holiday, read the following excerpts directly from the Department of Labor’s website at: http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm (SOURCE)

“Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union.

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.” (SOURCE)

The original intent of the Labor Day holiday has been largely lost in the drive to revise and sanitize American history.

Labor Unions have been referred to as the “shock troops of socialism.” (SOURCE)

Today most American families will celebrate with picnics cookouts, etc, completely oblivious to the fact that they are celebrating the labor unions in America.

I cannot do that.

My uncle, a lawyer, and high up in one of America's largest and most powerful labor unions, would get down on the ground and look under his car, then raise the hood and look carefully -- every morning -- before he would ever get in the car and start it up. He was looking for bombs. I don't know, to this day, exactly how important his job in the union was, but at his death, of natural causes, the US Secretary of Labor was in attendance at his funeral.

So, enjoy your family outing today. Just be aware of what Labor Day is actually about.

J. D. Longstreet

A Commander-in-Chief Not Worthy Of His Troops

A Commander-in-Chief Not Worthy Of His Troops
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

America did not win the war in Iraq. That’s a fact. America did not win the first Iraq war. That, too, is a fact. Iraq is set up, as we write these few comments, for its next dictator -- with at least a couple of Iraqis preening themselves in the shadows just waiting for the moment, which will not be long in coming.

Look, the plain truth is – you cannot win a war while attempting to win the hearts and minds of those you are warring against! Until America understands this we will NEVER win another war!

To be successful in war you have to beat the snot out of your opponent through attrition and any other means at your disposal until he either has no troops left to put into the field against your forces, or he is so beaten that he loses the will to fight. The victor must make the price of going to war against him so costly any would-be enemy will think long and hard before firing that first shot. America doesn’t do that anymore. It is common knowledge that if you desire the rebuilding of your country -- simply attack America!

Another important aspect of wining a war is to never take the civilian population off the list of targets. That may shock you. It should. But war is hell. People die – innocent people die, too. I repeat: war is hell!

It is nice to make an effort to avoid civilian causalities, but one must understand that it will prolong the war and make it imminently more costly in lives and treasure to win a conflict. A civilian population that is being decimated will put pressure on its government to end the war, even if that means surrender on any terms.

We did nearly everything wrong in Iraq. Rest assured, we will be forced to return combat troops to Iraq in the future. No matter what our national leaders try to tell us – the war in Iraq is not over, not nearly over. If this withdrawal is anything it is a time-out, a breather for our troops, nothing more. I hope the military brass has the good sense to leave a goodly portion of those troops in Kuwait, because they will be needed again -- and soon.

We are making even worse mistakes in Afghanistan. We cannot win a war in Afghanistan without the use of nuclear weapons. I mean, of course, a decisive victory. The best we can hope for is some sort of agreement with the Afghans/Taliban. I expect that very thing is being worked on at this writing.

Just LOOK at Afghanistan. To begin with, the Afghans have very little to lose, period. The terrain in Afghanistan is unsuitable for a conventional war. We have had very limited success smashing those solid rock caves with even those powerful bunker buster bombs and missiles. Those Afghan mountain redoubts can be taken out using tactical nukes. If the US were set on victory in Afghanistan, we’d use those nukes. We would also wipe out their poppy fields and decimate the Taliban population, both the civilian and warrior class Taliban. We would take their lives, wholesale.

Unfortunately, our President sees himself as a citizen of the world FIRST and a citizen of the United States second. It is the first time in history that the President of the United States views himself as being a citizen of the country with which the military he commands is at war!
That can’t be good for any kind of REAL victory in Afghanistan. All this President wants out of Afghanistan -- is the troops he commands. And – as soon as he can come to some sort of arrangement with the Taliban, He will pull the US Military out of Afghanistan, too.

You know, I doubt President Obama ever played organized football or baseball. He probably played that game the liberals love so much – soccer. I still contend that soccer is no game for Americans. American games don’t end in “ties.” That’s because Americans play to win.

Just like American football players and baseball players and basketball players are trained to win, the American military is trained to win… not tie with the enemy.

I don’t think Obama has any clue how humiliating it is to our troops to have them fight a war with one hand tied behind their backs and then, after spilling their blood at his command, order them to withdraw short off a victory. Oh, they will salute and comply with his commands, but he will have lost their respect and their trust for the remainder of his term as their Commander-in-Chief. (No wonder the democrats fear the military vote this November!)

America’s days in Afghanistan are numbered. Everybody knows it: Obama, the Taliban, the US troops in Afghanistan, and the American people. We all know it because we know this President has no taste for real conflict of any kind -- political or military. Just look at all the “czars” he appointed so as to avoid conflict with the Senate. Look at his recess appointments made, we believe, for the same reason. If he can give a command and have his wishes fulfilled -- fine. But – if he has to fight for it – forget about it. That is what we see in Iraq and what we will see soon in Afghanistan.

It is disgusting to see the one government organization, which really understands what honor is, the US Military, have their own honor tarnished by a Commander-in-Chief not worthy of the troops he commands.

J. D. Longstreet

Israel And Palestinian Peace Talks are a Farce

Israel And Palestinian Peace Talks are a Farce
Obama wants Two States, Palestinians Want One
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

This whole dog and pony show of Middle East Peace Talks, between Israel and the so-called Palestinians, is a carefully orchestrated performance by the Obama Regime. Calling for a peace agreement within one year blew the lid off any chance that these talks would be taken seriously by anyone who pays even the slightest attention to world affairs. So far, all we have seen is more proof that the Obama Regime is in WAY over its head in foreign affairs.

Look, anyone who is moderately well read in world history knows the only way the dispute between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the so-called Palestinians, will be solved, short of divine intervention, is with one side, or the other, totally wiped out to the last man, woman, and child. As long as even one survivor exists on this earth, from either the Palestinians or the Israelis, the fight will continue. Like it or not – that is the fact of the matter.

Even today, I marvel as the mainstream media describes this fight as a “decades old” disagreement. Decades, my Aunt Fanny! If they had the least interest in accuracy they would describe it as a “millennias old” family feud!

This fight goes all the way back to the day Abraham tossed Hagar, and her son Ishmael, out of his camp at the insistence of Sarah, Isaac’s mother and Abraham’s wife. Ishmael was Abraham’s son by the servant girl Hagar. Ishmael was, in fact Abraham’s eldest son but -- by divine direction -- Abraham’s blessing was passed to Isaac. And the fight was ON! It has continued ever since.

Having spent some time in my youth as a police officer, I can attest that there is no fight so vicious as a family fight. One should always remember that the fight in the Middle East is a family feud, with the possible exception of the Iranians who are, indeed, Persians, and not Arabs. So much for history.

The propaganda arm of the Obama Regime, the mainstream media, is not stressing the fact that these meetings currently underway, are not about policy disputes, or land disputes, or settlement disputes, or who gets which part of Jerusalem. No. These talks are about when and where to have MORE talks and the agenda for those talks. That’s all. Of course there might be some chatter about other things. But, officially, these talks are all about scheduling future negotiations.

So -- why all the fuss? Because the lefties in the mainstream media, as good little lapdogs of the Obama Regime, feel they must circle their wagons around Obama and pull out all the stops to make him look good -- especially now that it is clear the public has rejected his presidency and will toss his political party out on its ear in a few short weeks. (And they wonder why people don’t read their newspapers and magazines, anymore -- and don’t watch their TV news channels, anymore! Geez! How DUMB is that?)

Having a two state solution will make is far easier for Israel to assert its ownership of the land. Think about it. Once Palestine becomes an honest-to-goodness STATE, a whole slew of ambiguities will be cleared up and the very next time they attack Israel, Israel will simply overrun them retake the land and declare it legal spoils of war and, once again, have their country complete and whole -- as it was meant to be. The Palestinians may even lose Trans-Jordan, their official homeland; given them by the UN at the same time Israel was granted its small strip of land.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has already stated, flat out, that whether or not these talks have a chance at success depends upon the Palestinians accepting that Israel has a right to actually exist. The Palestinians want to discuss which state would get Jerusalem, the removal of Israeli settlements from land the Palestinians already claim as theirs, and the “right of return” of so-called Palestinian refugees.

In our opinion, the “right of return” should be taken off the table before any further talks are held. If the Palestinians are granted “right of return” for those so-called refugees, there will be a tsunami of those so-called Palestinian refugees diluting the Israeli population to the point that the Israelis will be choked off, smothered, and neutralized, losing control of their country by losing control of their government at the ballot box as a result of the sheer weight of the numbers of Palestinians who would gain the positions of power within the Israeli government. (Yes, Virginia, there IS more than one way to skin a cat!)

The bottom line is this: No matter how Obama’s “Peace Negotiations” with the Israelis and so-called Palestinians conclude -- the fight will not end. Believing otherwise simply demonstrates humongous naiveté, and only a tenuous thread attached to reality.

J. D. Longstreet