EARTHblog: A roadmap for EPA

By Lauren Pagel, Policy Director, EARTHWORKS

As 2010 draws to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about the great work the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been doing to try and regulate extractive industries in this country to protect communities and the environment. With the study on the impacts that hydraulic fracturing has on drinking water, and their plans to regulate mercury emissions from mining operations under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is attempting to move this country towards better regulated extraction. There’s still a long way to go, of course, but there is a lot that EPA can do to protect our water, air, land and public health in the coming months.

So, what can EPA do through the end of this year and into 2011 to continue this path toward better regulation?

Read Lauren’s recommendations for EPA on EARTHblogs

And my recommendation is to ignore all the Republican doomsday whiners who say clean air and safe water will be the ruination of American and destroy all our jobs. That just doesn’t even make any sense at all.