Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Senator Inhofe is proposing a very sweeping amendment that would affect a rule the EPA has developed over the normal rulemaking process, with notice and comments over many, many, many months. It is scheduled to go into effect in May of this year. The amendment the Senator is offering, as I understand it, exempts all farms from this EPA oilspill regulation. Again, this rule is designed to prevent or significantly prevent the pollution of navigable waters by oilspills coming from agricultural operations. One of the issues here is the definition of what appropriate farm should be exempt. As I understand the amendment, it is all farms. That includes large agribusinesses that have the capability not only of mitigating these hazards but also the resources to do so and, collectively, would contribute to environmental quality. I know the agricultural community is concerned. And I know also this the type of very complicated legislation that is best resolved at the authorization level. The Senator from Oklahoma, I think, has already indicated there are bills pending, and these bills are much more finely attuned in nuance to address more specifically the problem rather than a total effective preemption from the rule for all farms.…”