Monday, August 08, 2011

US Rep. Cliff Stearns; joking about pollution and jobs and trashing Florida's waters ... by gimleteye

The following editorial is from the Ocala Star Banner, the hometown newspaper of US Congressman Cliff Stearns. Stearns had been the only Republican to stand apart from his caucus on the GOP intent to knee-cap the U.S. EPA's effort to clean up Florida's waters. This is not something the EPA came to willingly: it took a major lawsuit by environmental groups to get EPA to do its job. But the Republicans in Florida want to keep Florida dirty so their biggest campaign funders-- like the billionaire sugar baron Fanjuls-- can keep making money. Apparently, Stearns was handed a bloody fish head wrapped in newspaper for his gutsy move and quickly flip-flopped. Tomorrow Stearns hosts a field hearing in his district, "EPA's Takeover of Florida's Nutrient Water Quality Standard Setting: Impact on Communities and Job Creation." A joke, isn't it? (Click 'read more' for the editorial)


OTHER VOICES
Stearns' about-face on water regs

By Frank Jackalone
Special to the Star-Banner
Published: Sunday, August 7, 2011
Clean-water supporters were very surprised to learn that Congressman Cliff Stearns will hold a field hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the University of Central Florida Alumni Center in Orlando. Stearns, who chairs the subcommittee, chose to title this hearing "EPA's Takeover of Florida's Nutrient Water Quality Standard Setting: Impact on Communities and Job Creation."
This is quite an about-face for Stearns, the only Republican in the Florida congressional delegation who voted a few months ago against the Rooney Amendment to the House Continuing Budget Resolution. The Rooney amendment, rejected by the Senate, would have stopped EPA from enforcing the Clean Water Act in Florida. Here's what Stearns told the Florida Times-Union at the time of his bold vote:

"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. ... Although 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."

The Sierra Club praised Stearns for showing "significant courage, risking retaliation not only from the polluters' cabal and agricultural interests in his rural district in North Florida, but also from the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives which attached dozens of anti-environmental riders to the Continuing Resolution."

Fast forward to Aug. 2 when Stearns announced his upcoming field hearing in Orlando. Stearns sang a different tune in his new press release:

"Although the EPA originally accepted the standards set by Florida, under outside pressure the EPA decided to impose its own standards; numerous studies in Florida indicate that the Washington-imposed standards will have a devastating impact on Florida's job creation, economy and certain agencies."

It looks like retaliation from polluters was, indeed, too intense for Stearns. He caved to the pressure, and one can only wonder what did the trick. Was it campaign contributions, robo calls from the tea party or a threat from deep-pocketed polluters that they would find a serious opponent to run against him in the next election?

It's clear Stearns is now taking sides and no longer sees a role for EPA to make sure that Silver River, the St. John's River and the Ocklawaha River are cleaned up and protected.

Frank Jackalone is the Florida staff director and a senior field organizing manager of the Sierra Club. Jackalone served in 2001-2002 as the national chair of the Everglades Coalition.

2 comments:

George Orwell said...

At least gone are the days when they try to hide their intent. In the Bush days the hearings would have been titled "Examination of the US EPA's role in guaranteeing Florida Clean Water Freedom Preservation"

I prefer the new titles. Not so "Clear Skies" phony.

Gimleteye said...

Yes, they tried that didn't they.