“Thanks to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), EPA has the power to intercede and effectively veto any project funded or permitted by the federal government.”
Bill O’Keefe writes for The Hill:
… Throughout the country, the “green” lobby is manipulating legalities, rhetoric, and melodrama to sideline science in pursuit of a political agenda. Take for example the Environmental Protection Agency’s contentious inquiry into possible ground water contamination in a small Wyoming town, which – despite holes in its own reporting and the fact that “fracking” has been used to safely develop wells since the late 1940s – has ignited a new debate in the baseless campaign against natural gas.
During its study process, the agency made a number of mistakes to compromise its findings. For example, it tested waters deeper than those reportedly affected or used for drinking; ignored preexisting and natural conditions; included contaminants that likely could have been caused by other drilling; and has yet to explain contamination in its own purified control samples. Additionally, the report noted that ecological considerations made the situation unique to the area, and that impurities were “generally below health and safety standards.” Regardless, the report was promulgated as conclusive findings, cited in over 200 articles within 24 hours of its release.
Downplaying the facts, EPA used the situation to stir concerns about the safety of natural gas development. The same is true of the agency’s involvement in last month’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline…
Our energy pursuits should not and will not come at a cost to the environment or public health. But by the same token, we can’t afford for a small, polarized section of society to hijack the wellbeing of our country based on an ideological opposition to any and all fossil fuels…