Gingrich Wants To Replace EPA - Complains That It "Focuses On Regulation"

[hatrack]

DES MOINES, Iowa – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Tuesday for the elimination of the Environmental Protection Agency, which he wants to replace with a new organization that would work more closely with businesses and be more aggressive in using science and technology. In an interview with The Associated Press, Gingrich said the EPA was rarely innovative and focused only on issuing regulations and litigation.

"What you have is a very expensive bureaucracy that across the board makes it harder to solve problems, slows down the development of new innovations," Gingrich said. Gingrich, who has acknowledged that he's mulling a run for the Republican presidential nomination, was in Iowa to talk to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. He also met privately with Republican legislators, often a sign in Iowa that people are laying the groundwork for a campaign. The state has the nation's first presidential caucuses.

Gingrich, who has made several visits to Iowa recently, said the EPA was founded on sound ideas but has become a traditional Washington bureaucracy. Gingrich had previously mentioned his desire to change the EPA, but Tuesday's explanation was the first time he made a specific proposal for replacing the agency, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said.

"We need to have an agency that is first of all limited, but cooperates with the 50 states," Gingrich said. "The EPA is based on bureaucrats centered in Washington issuing regulations and litigation and basically opposing things."

EDIT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110126/ap_on_go_ot/us_gingrich_iowa

[elleng]

1. Yes, thats what governments do, issue laws/rules for compliance

with socially approved matters. Corporations seek to maximize returns to their owners, NOT to society at large.

We The People decide who we want to prevail, and if we're reasonable. we'll evaluate carefully, decide and vote.

Go away, lizard.

[louis-t]

2. Newt sez "We need an agency that does nothing but

slaps their corporate buddies on the back and opens the safe for them."

[FiveGoodMen]

7. You're just describing the White House

[provis99]

3. How dare regulators regulate!

We shouldn't be expecting government bureaucrats to do the jobs they are supposed to do!

[damntexdem]

4. And even worse, on the environment, and on protection, ...

and on being an agency.

;-)

[pscot]

11. Nothing gets by Newt

[no_hypocrisy]

5. EPA was created under the Nixon Administration.

[madrchsod]

6. oh the big government,eastern railroads,jew bankers,and standard oil

talking points from the 20`s...

i still have the copy of my grandfather`s 1920`s speech to his local iowa grange.

[muntrv]

8. Gingrich hates Nixon? Tricky Dick created the EPA.

[phantom power]

9. That makes me want to shoot myself in the face.

x(

[Blue Meany]

10. OK Newt, just think of it as incentivizing lawful behavior

As a reward for protecting the environment, we'll allow corporations to continue to exist. If they don't...well, they'll just have to accept the personal responsibility you are always preaching about for non-corporate citizens.

[JohnWxy]

12. Hasn't he heard of the Dept. of Energy???

[Traditional Liberal]

13. Actually there was an agency just like that in the news

It was called the Minerals Management Service, and they were in charge of oil drilling oversight in the Gulf of Mexico.

They were a wholly owned and operated tool of the oil companies.

Newt is the new Bret Favre...just does not know when to call it quits.

[txlibdem]

14. Nuclear *Regulatory* Commission -- get rid of that too

And we might as well rail against the "Federal Energy Regulatory Commission" as well --it's the devil!!!!

Whatever you do... DO NOT READ THIS:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/harsh-words-for-regulators-in-crisis-commission-report/

[saras]

15. I'd prefer that the EPA focus on enforcement

But I don't think that's what Newt is referring to.

We've got plenty of perfectly good regulations that would greatly improve things if we enforced them across the board and stopped creating loopholes for influential industries.