GOP pounces on Obama's water, air regulations
Republicans are fighting back against the White House's latest spate of environmental regulations -- particularly new water and clean air rules that conservatives say are "based on ideology, rather than practicality."
"In the final 15 months of the Obama administration, Washington bureaucrats are working overtime to finalize new rules on everything from prairie puddles to power plants," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, said in a video released Saturday. "In this administration's race to control more of what Americans do every day, it has lost all perspective."
Barrasso aimed a specific strike against an expansion of the federal definition of the "waters of the United States" in the Clean Water Act, a favorite legislative target of Republicans.
The rule, broadened earlier this summer, allows the EPA to begin regulating smaller wetlands -- what Barrasso said included bodies of water like "irrigation ditches" and "isolated ponds."
Opponents say that the new expansion is a Washington power grab that could spike costs and cause delays of infrastructure projects. The Republican-led Congress, along with affected industries like agriculture and oil, assert that it's a vast overreach of federal power into everything from family farms to pipeline projects.
"The consequences of this new federal authority will be severe," Barrasso said. "Local land-use decisions will now be driven by Washington bureaucrats."
But the rule's proponents say it's a necessary step to shield critical waterways from pollution.
"For the water in the rivers and lakes in our communities that flow to our drinking water to be clean, the streams and wetlands that feed them need to be clean too," EPA head Gina McCarthy said earlier this year. "Protecting our water sources is a critical component of adapting to climate change impacts like drought, sea level rise, stronger storms and warmer temperatures."
According to the EPA numbers, the new definition would only account for a 3 percent expansion of the Clean Water Act.
Barrasso also had harsh words for other environmental regulations the White House has pushed through, including a new ozone rule meant to cut down on pollution tied to respiratory sickness.
Republicans have criticized the regulation for limiting coal-fired power plants, and Barrasso said that the rule would only "increase electricity costs and decrease reliability."
Overall, the Wyoming Republican said, such regulations came with a steep price tag: a $680 billion hit on the economy.
The agency enforcing these rules, however, have disputed that cost, saying that even new provisions of the Clean Air Act would instead benefit the economy between $37 billion and $90 billion annually.
For President Obama's part, the president pushed back against Republicans for their efforts in Congress to stonewall a spending bill that kept funding Planned Parenthood.
While the House and Senate eventually passed a clean short-term bill that funds the government into December, the president criticized it as a "gimmick" that "sets up another shutdown threat two weeks before Christmas."
"That's not the way America should operate," the president said in a Saturday video. "It just kicks the can down the road without solving any problems or doing any long-term planning for the future."
It comes on the heels of Mr. Obama's latest veto threat Friday, when he promised during a press conference that he wouldn't sign any more "short-sighted" spending bills Congress may be tempted to send to his desk.
The president urged Congress to "do its job" and pass a "serious budget."
"A serious budget is one that keeps America strong through our military, our law enforcement; that keeps America generous through caring for our veterans and our seniors; that keeps America competitive by educating our kids and our workers," he said.