E-Newsletter

Crying Over Spilt Milk

What do spilt milk and oil have in common? Quite a bit, according to the EPA. In fact, a new ruling by the EPA would force dairy farmers to comply with the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Program when dealing with spilt milk – the same regulations oil and natural gas producers must follow.  The EPA’s reasoning is that milk contains "a percentage of animal fat, which is a non-petroleum oil." It appears spilt milk is just as threatening as an oil spill.

Under the ruling, farms and facilities producing dairy products would be required to implement an emergency plan and install containment facilities in case of a spill. Not only would these new requirements put a dent in the pocketbooks of farmers and producers, but added costs would ultimately trickle down to consumers in the form of higher food prices. When money is already tight for many families in the 9th District, jacking up the price of milk and butter would be an unwelcome result.

It’s not just about spilt milk. From the financial markets to agriculture, energy production, and manufacturing, new burdensome regulations are making it hard to do business in America. Harmful greenhouse gas regulations from the EPA would make energy production from domestic sources increasingly difficult. Regulating greenhouse gases not only negatively impacts energy costs and coal production, but also every coal-related industry from electric production to the railroads. While we should be building confidence in our economy, Washington-style big government regulations are only creating more uncertainty.

While I was questioning EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in an Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing this week, she openly stated that the EPA would never create a cap and trade program for CO2 under the Clean Air Act. This admission is contrary to the views of some who thought that the Waxman-Markey bill must be passed in order to curtail the EPA’s actions on cap and trade. Administrator Jackson also stated that it was not the intention of the EPA to eliminate coal. However, current EPA actions suggest otherwise.  I will continue to monitor greenhouse gas regulations closely to ensure that the EPA’s deeds match Administrator Jackson’s words.

By permanently preventing the EPA from enacting new greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act and rolling back current burdensome regulations, we can create more certainty for businesses and access more of America’s valuable energy reserves. Crying over and spending lots of our money on potentially spilt milk shows how serious the regulatory problem is here in Washington. Whether it’s milk or coal, it’s time to get harmful government regulations out of the way. I plan to work with my colleagues in the House to identify and review federal regulations that are impeding job creation and economic growth. If there are any silly regulations you know about or wish to contact my office regarding issues before Congress, I invite you to visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.govor call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405. Next week we will be discussing spending and the federal debt.