Scott Pruitt – a commonsense head for the EPA

“Federal overreach” is a familiar refrain to members of the Missouri legislature. For years, we have witnessed federal agencies overstepping their lawful authority and making life more and more difficult for employers and employees alike. A decade of this overreach is a big part of the reason that Missourians overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump for president and it’s also why Missourians should be heartened by the president-elect’s choice to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — current Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

What do my fellow conservatives and I mean when we talk about “federal overreach?” Well the EPA has jurisdiction over “navigable waters.” That seems like a straightforward term — rivers and waterways that can be navigated. Not backyard streams. Not drainage ditches on Missouri farms and ranches that are bone dry most of the year. Navigable waters like the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The term “navigable waters” is self evident to anyone — anyone except the EPA. The EPA has decided that “navigable waters” includes that four-inch-deep stream and that drainage ditch and they claim the authority to regulate everything within 4,000 feet of those “navigable” streams and ditches. How much of Missouri does that cover? 99.7 percent. That means more area for them to regulate and more government control over private property.

During this administration, the EPA has also pursued the so-called “Clean Power Plan” that would force energy costs to dramatically skyrocket for consumers. I led the effort to develop a Missouri solution to stop the implementation of this misguided and dangerous proposal. My colleague, Representative Jack Bondon, testified to the United States Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works that, by the EPA’s own estimates, the Clean Power Plan could increase electricity prices in Missouri by double digits. Additionally, in Missouri, we have 1.2 million low-income and middle-income families — about half the state’s households — that already spend 18 cents of every dollar they take home on energy. Simply put, they cannot afford to pay higher electricity prices caused by the Clean Power Plan.

This is the kind of nonsense that Scott Pruitt will put a stop to once he’s confirmed to lead the EPA. No one wants to go back to the polluted rivers and air that we see in classic newspaper photos and news reports, and Scott Pruitt does not want that either. But we also can’t give unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. a blank check to regulate every farmer, family and small business in Middle America into extinction.

If you care about adding jobs to our economy, support Scott Pruitt’s confirmation as the Administrator of the EPA.

Richardson is the Speaker of the Missouri House (R-Poplar Bluff).