Budget Bill Hits EPA, National Park Service

The recently passed 2011 spending bill, which will fund the federal government through the fiscal year. As part of the spending cuts being pushed for by Republicans, the Environmental Protection Agency lost 1.6 billion dollars in funding, or 16% of their budget, while the National Park Service by 127 million. These cuts reflect a deep, ideological dispensation within the Republican party toward low levels of environmental regulation and lack of concern for nature preservation.

As part of the EPA  cuts, special attention was paid to reducing or eliminating funding which would be used for climate change research and mitigation measures. What's more, it will limit the EPA's ability to control air quality and to begin more intensely regulating air pollutants, such as mercury and arsenic, indicating not only a disdain for the environment, but for public health. Representative Mike Simpson, a Republican from Idaho, accused the EPA of not knowing how to spend its increased funding, and that drawing back funding will allow Congress, which historically has little concern for the environment, to examine how that new funding will be used. This is certainly a power play by Republicans, who will use the time and their new House majority to impede the growth and effectiveness of the EPA.

The disproportionate cuts in the EPA and National Park Service suggest not only a lack of concern on the side of the Republicans, but of the President himself. While President Obama certainly made strides in his initial two years in improving the effectiveness and reach of the EPA, he caved in the recent budget proposal, despite historical evidence (see Clinton versus Gingrich) that when Republicans take the government hostage, they are apt to cave under public pressure. Instead of playing politics and trying to protect the gains he made in his first two years, he has taken the proverbial one step back after having taken two steps forward. This crushing blow to the EPA and the continued trend of defunding the National Park Service indicate that this country, and its leadership, are still a generation away (at least) from enacting meaningful, across the board, ideological policy that protects the environment across partisan, political lines.