EPA Under Fire – Wasted and Misspent Funds and Collusion

Posted by Tina

A recent report released by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the EPA found that 90% of stimulus funds for diesel reduction were misspent:

An audit analyzing $26.3 million in funding to non-profit organizations and state governments meant to reduce truck emissions and create jobs found that the program had “significant financial management issues.”

The OIG reviewed six projects under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program, finding four “did not meet all the objectives of the award,” or their requirements under the Recovery Act. Five of the six projects “did not have a financial management systems that met federal requirements that applied to the grant award.”

“As a result, we questioned a total of $23.8 million of the $26.3 million claimed under the assistance agreements,” the OIG said.

The EPA isn’t the only government agency that has been found to waste stimulus funds. According to The Washington Free Beacon the Department of Agriculture’s IG found $5 billion in misspent funds and most of their stimulus projects were “inherently not shovel ready.”

The American people have lost six years of earnings and wealth building power because of the incompetence and ideologically driven missteps of the current leadership. At a time when the people needed job opportunity and a chance to recover lost ground we have instead been rolled and fleeced.

Conservatives believe in supporting clean air and water but we don’t believe in just throwing tons of money at problems. Instead we understand that steady constant movement in the direction of cleaner solutions and technological improvements will result in cleaner air and water. The good news for taxpayers is that businesses will make these changes on their own dime with minimal cost passed on to the consumer. They will do it because it’s good for their business and for the community that they serve.

I wrote in comments today about another report from the Energy and Environment Legal Institute showing collusion between the EPA and various environment groups to destroy coal companies:

The collection of e-mails outlines a close relationship between environmental groups and senior EPA officials, many of whom came from those environmental groups. One such relationship is that between Michael Goo, recently head of the EPA Office of Policy and a former Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) lobbyist, and John Coequyt, a top Sierra Club lobbyist. According to the e-mails, Coequyt supplied materials directly to individual activists within EPA, even helping EPA keep a score for “internal use” of coal plants to shut down. Coequyt saw to it that plans to build new coal plants ultimately did not come to fruition.

Coequyt wrote to Goo and another EPA staffer to pressure the EPA into adopting regulations so strict that coal plants that had already received construction permits could not be built. “Attached is a list of plants that the companies shelved because of uncertainty around GHG regulations. If a standard is set that these plants could meet, there is a not small chance that they [sic] company could decide to revive the proposal,” Coequyt wrote.

On many occasions, Coequyt met with Goo at the nearby Marriott Hotel, purposely avoiding EPA headquarters so that they did not have to detail their discussions in EPA’s visitor logs.

E-mails also reveal that EPA press staff worked directly with a Sierra Club lobbyist to write Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-N.H.) statement on the climate agenda for an event in which the EPA, Sierra Club, and Senator Shaheen participated.

“It’s disturbing,” remarks Dr. David Schnare, a lawyer and scientist for the E&E Legal’s general counsel who served for decades as an EPA employee. “There needs to be a clear line between special interests and government. Current EPA officials are ignoring that line entirely.”

One way to eliminate special interests in the federal government would be to eliminate the EPA and return the power to state and local governments. We already have strict restrictions in place to protect our water and air. Business is already involved in clean air and water improvements through the introduction of new technologies. Local power makes it easier for the people to monitor and demand responsible accountable government regulation. Local control…sounds like an idea whose time has come.