Posted on 10/08/2010 4:19:03 PM PDT by goldendays
Beef Industry: U.S. May Need ‘Strategic Hamburger Reserve’ after Obama EPA Implements New Regulations
Thomas Dyekman displays branding irons used at his family's ranch in Loveland, Colo. (AP photo/RJ Sangosti) Washington (CNSNews.com) – According to a representative of the cattle and beef industry, America may need a “strategic hamburger reserve” if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implements proposed new reguilations for cattle producers. “From where I sit, (the Obama administration) appears to be aimed at destroying the cattle industry in America as we know it,” Tamara Thies, the chief environmental counsel at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said on Capitol Hill last week. “It is ironic that as we work to become less dependent on foreign oil, Obama policies are likely to make us more dependent on foreign beef. Maybe we’ll need to start a strategic hamburger reserve after the Obama administration is finished with us.”
Thies' comments came at a hearing conducted by the House Republicans’ Rural America Solutions Group about the EPA’s proposed regulations on the industry, which include the toughest dust regulations in history – one which would significantly impact the rural economy by imposing steep fines on cattle producers who, Thies said, most likely cannot afford them.
“It is unlikely these realities are lost on the EPA, making one wonder if the real goal of the agency is to do away altogether with economic activity throughout the bread basket of this country and turn it into a vast national park,” she added.
The forum was held by Reps. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee; Sam Graves (R-Mo.), ranking member of the House Small Business subcommittee; and Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, to consider several of the new proposed EPA regulations. In a periodic review of its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which allow the EPA to regulate certain forms of particulate matter in the air,
the EPA determined that it might raise the standard so that only 65-85 µg/m3 of dust would be permitted in the air (as opposed to 150 µg/m3). Violating the proposed new NAAQS standards can result in civil penalties under the Clean Air Act.
The EPA published that draft policy assessment in the July 8, 2010 issue of the Federal Register.
“(EPA) is preparing to issue a proposed regulation that is twice as stringent as the current dust standard, and is more stringent than background levels of dust in many parts of the U.S,” Thies told the congressmen.
“Incredibly, we are talking about dust kicked up by tilling fields and harvesting crops, cattle movements, and pickups driving down dirt roads,”she said. “For agriculture, the current standard is already very difficult and costly to meet—doubling it would be virtually impossible.”
That new proposal also alarmed 75 members of Congress who represent rural districts, including Reps. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-S.D.), John Spratt (D-S.C.), and Bobby Bright (D-Ala.), who sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Sept. 27 urging the agency to “refrain from going down this path” on dust regulation.
“Considering the administration’s claim that it is focusing on revitalizing rural America and rural economic development, a proposal such as this would have a significant negative impact on those very goals,” they wrote. “We are hopeful that common sense will prevail and the EPA will refrain from causing extreme hardship to farmers, livestock producers, and other resource-based industries throughout rural America.
“Whether it is livestock kicking up dust, corn being combined, or a pickup driving down a gravel road, dust is a naturally occurring event in rural areas. Common sense requires the EPA to acknowledge that the wind blows dust around in these areas, and that is a fact of life.” Jackson did not attend the forum on Capitol Hill last week despite receiving an invitation. A spokesperson for the EPA indicated they would have a reaction about why they were proposing these rules in a difficult economy, but did not do so by press time.
The dust regulation is one of several new proposals the EPA is considering, including regulating ammonia emissions from cattle operations; nationalizing standards for soil phosphorus levels, which determine where farmers can use manure; regulating greenhouse gas emissions; and greater regulation of farming on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
“The fact is, the EPA is waging an unprecedented war to end modern production of animal agriculture,” Thies said in her testimony.
“EPA exhibits reckless indifference to scientific fact and, instead, imposes stringent regulations based on nothing more than its biased anti-animal agriculture agenda that will leave many cattle operations with no recourse but to shut down and eliminate jobs,” she added.
The EPA is absolutely out of control. They think they have become lawmakers.
The “Green” religion that is now sweeping the nation has given these apparatchiks missionary zeal, in addition to their bureaucratic power. A very dangerous combination.
On the first day, the Canadian government legal teams will present the Canadian case and answer the panel’s questions. The Mexican team will do likewise while the U.S. government team will defend COOL. The observer countries will make their statements on the second day. The third day will see Canada, Mexico and the U.S. back in front of the panel to answer questions and rebut each other’s presentation
Did I miss something?
Maybe the part about creeping back to pre-Industrial Revolution days...
You may laugh, but if they get away with this, there will certainly be a black-market (no pun intended, well, maybe...) for hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.
And I thought I coudn't stand Bill.
The great agenda of progressives, and fabians(sp). You don’t have to take over the property, you just have to regulate it to the point that the property owners have no choice, but to quit. Then no one is paying the tax’s the farmers and ranchers are now on the system, the government has to take the land, for back tax’s. It’s slow and pain-full but not sudden, so no uprising. The death of America done through a evil surgeon in a hundred years.
Glen
““It is unlikely these realities are lost on the EPA, making one wonder if the real goal of the agency is to do away altogether with economic activity throughout the bread basket of this country and turn it into a vast national park,” she added.”
That is exactly their plan.
$700K Taxpayer-Funded pay for Climate Change report
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/10/04/700k-taxpayer-funded-play-on-climate-change/
To hell with the EPA, the UN, the Dept of “education”, the UN, U get the picture. This is just insane.
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
I’m afraid that is is only a matter of time until someone “goes postal” at an EPA office or the EPA HQ.
They need to learn to shut up and do as they are told or there WILL BE severe consequences.
a beef hot dog 5.00
Those of us who are successfully reprogrammed may find work on government collective farms.
The rest will be sent to camps or the cities.
http://www.CattlemenToCattlemen.org
Watch the 10/5/2010 piece on Mexican Trucking... and see how Obama aims at smashing $1,000,000,000 of US beef producer export business to Mexico.
That was the price for a "dirty water dog" at Yankee Stadium 10 years ago!
This is Cass Sunstein. Anytime you see new regulation changes, you can thank Cass Sunstein.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.