The Enviro-Fix Is In

Green groups and EPA get their way — and you pay.

By Jillian Kay Melchior May 23, 2013 

Green groups are using the courts to co-opt the Environmental Protection Agency, and taxpayers are being forced to cover the activists’ legal fees.

Here’s how it works: Environmental groups craft lawsuits to force the EPA and other agencies to issue regulations. But because the EPA agrees with green groups’ radical environmental agenda, it often chooses not to defend itself, sometimes even providing environmental-advocacy organizations with information that will help them bring the case.

The EPA then settles, negotiating the terms with the environmental groups without including those pesky states or industries sure to be affected by the new regulations. The court approves the consent agreement without analysis, as if it were a simple agreement between private parties. ……the court orders the EPA to issue rules according to the terms of its agreement……“It’s huge because it allows the EPA to reprioritize agency actions without going through Congress,” says Bill Kovacs, senior vice president of environmental, technology, and regulatory affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “It’s an amazing process that allows the EPA to address the issues the environmental groups want addressed . . . while using congressional appropriations to achieve the goals of private parties.” Furthermore, Kovacs says, the EPA is “able to tell Congress, ‘The court made us do it.’”

And here’s the kicker: The environmental special-interest groups’ legal expenses are often covered by taxpayers.…..To Read More…