Congressman Cliff Stearns: earning back his stripes with GOP ... by gimleteye

Earlier this year, Ocala Republican Cliff Stearns earned the enmity of his Republican colleagues when he was the only member of the Florida GOP congressional delegation to implicitly support EPA's effort to clean up pollution of Florida's waters through specific numeric criteria for fertilizer run-off. Stearns was the only GOP member to oppose the amendment proposed by Republican Congressman Tom Rooney to the House budget bill that would have stripped EPA of its ability to enforce the Clean Water Act. That was, then.

The best way to judge the degree of backlash and the lockstep that the GOP demands of its members is the speed of his 180 degree turnaround. Call it: The Stearns Reversal. At the time of his vote, Stearns told the Florida Times-Union: "I am very concerned about preserving the Silver River in my hometown [Ocala] as well as the Ocklawaha and the St. Johns rivers in my district." Indeed, these are among the water bodies in Florida that have been sacrificed on the altar of private profit. If that reference is too obtuse, perhaps better to mention that some Florida rivers are so fouled with toxic algae that people swim there at their own risks not to mention the hit to billions of dollars of real estate values and commercial and recreational fisheries that Floridians really do treasure. Stearns mused at the time, " ... I don't want to see the EPA develop these burdensome and expensive regulations, I do want the EPA and the State of Florida to work together in developing an economical solution to protecting our waters."

It sounds innocuous enough. In fact, the nation's presidential swing state is at this point because the state has not been working with the EPA. If it had, then the EPA would not have lost a federal court decision brought by environmental groups that instructed the EPA to get the job done according to federal law, where the state had failed. At any rate, Stearns' idea that the EPA "should work together" was apparently too confusing to the GOP enforcers when they came banging on his door. He responded to the need for clarity by entitling the Congressional field hearing he chaired this week in Orlando, "EPA's Takeover of Florida's Nutrient Water Quality Standard Setting: Impact on Communities and Job Creation."

Then, to be doubly and triply clear Stearns neglected to invite any environmentalists to appear as testifying witnesses. Not even the middle-of-the-road Florida Wildlife Federation. The panel, in other words, was filled with industry and utility representatives who oppose EPA. (At the last minute, Earthjustice was invited.) When questioned by the press, Stearns lied: saying of course environmentalists were included. But environmental representatives told The Florida Independent ("Environmental groups maintain they were shut out at Stearns’ water pollution hearing", August 10, 2011) when they had sought out to speak, they were turned down by Stearns' staff.

This would be amusing if it weren't tragically sad. Recounting it, is like eating a cherry to find its pit has cracked your molar. No wonder so many Florida Republicans are walking around without teeth. Coming next to a Congressional district near you: GOP enforcers wearing uniforms and conducting exams. Click, 'read more', for the recent report in the Independent of the controversy.


Environmental groups maintain they were shut out at Stearns’ water pollution hearing

The Florida Independent - by Virginia Chamlee | 08.10.11 |

Environmental groups are disputing claims by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, that they weren’t included in the congressman’s Tuesday water pollution hearing because they didn’t ask to be.

The Stearns hearing in Orlando focused on new EPA water pollution rules in Florida. The list of witnesses invited to speak at the panel seemed one-sided to environmentalists, with representatives from various agriculture and utility companies opposed to the rules, but none from the environmental groups that support them.

In response to allegations that those groups were being shut out of the hearing, Stearns released a statement yesterday, saying that no environmental groups requested to join the discussion. But the Sierra Club, the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Gulf Restoration Network and a University of Central Florida group all maintain that they did indeed call Stearns’ office to request an invitation, and were denied.

“The statement that was issued by Stearns’ office is not correct,” says Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation. “I did specifically request that I or a representative be able to speak. I indicated my name, my organization and that we were supportive of EPA’s actions and that we wanted to be able to tell our side of the story. I was told that only invited speakers may participate. We may attend, but not speak. We may submit written comments, which may be included in the record, if all of the members (minority and majority) vote to allow it to be included.”

Fuller says he did not get the name of the staffer with whom he spoke, a mistake he now regrets.

“I find it hard to believe that Manley Fuller, who heads the most respected and a very middle-of-the-road environmental group, was flatly turned down,” says Frank Jackalone, senior organizing manager of the Sierra Club. “After I heard that, I didn’t even bother asking. I knew they’d say no.”

A colleague of Jackalone’s, however, did ask. Cris Costello, the Florida Water Quality Campaign director for the Sierra Club, called Stearns’ office in D.C. and asked to speak at the hearing. She was also turned down.

As was Cathy Harrelson, an organizer of the Gulf Restoration Network, who recounts her conversation with a Stearns staffer last week.

“I asked who was on the panel, and he said he didn’t know when that information would be available on the website,” she says. “I asked about the agenda, and he said that would also be on the website. I then asked if I could be included on a panel, as a representative of a citizens’ group. He said that the invitations had already gone out and that it would be impossible to include me. Which wasn’t true, because they invited David Guest[, an attorney for environmental law firm Earthjustice,] to speak less than a day before the hearing. I said ‘This is a congressional hearing paid for with taxpayer dollars, correct?’ He said yes. I then asked, ‘Why are no citizens’ groups from Florida being included?’ Finally, he said ‘I’m just the press guy.’”

Bryan Eastman, head of the College Democrats at UCF Environmental Caucus, says he also called Stearns’ office, and was denied an invitation to speak at the hearing. In a comment on a Florida Independent post, Eastman called Stearns’ statement a “boldfaced lie”: #

I am the leader of a UCF environmental group and I called Stearns office to see if we could speak, as did the Sierra Club. He told us no one could speak except invited guests, so I called his committee headquarters who said the same thing. This is a boldfaced lie by the representative. #

There was no public testimony at the hearing, and all reports indicate that, aside from one EPA representative and the last-minute inclusion of David Guest, the hearing largely featured opposition to the EPA criteria.

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