US EPA says big budget cut would hurt public health

Reuters, March 2nd, 2011
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN0263677520110302?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Republican-led House of Representatives passed a bill that would have slashed the EPA's 2011 budget by about 30 percent just before Congress passed a stopgap spending bill to keep the government going for two weeks. Obama's budget proposal would cut EPA's budget $1.3 billion to $9 billion with reductions in a clean diesel program and in Great Lakes restoration projects. Republicans in the House of Representatives claim that the EPA's regulations on clean air and water hurt businesses. EPA officials report that for every dollar that goes toward protecting federal clean air and clean water laws save as much as $20 to $30 in costs for health problems. They claim that EPA initiatives act as preventative medicine. This week, the EPA released a report that said cutting pollution under the Clean Air Act will save $20 trillion by 2020 in health costs. It will also have prevented 230,000 premature deaths annually from heart attacks, and other health problems that can be caused by smokestack pollutants such as soot.

This article explains how the budget would affect funding for the EPA, an agency responsible for saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars, impacting its ability to uphold its current regulations. Federal environmental laws and regulations have a major impact on the nation's employment, economic conditions, and public health. While it is necessary for the budget to prevent unnecessary and costly requirements, the EPA has historically had an effective role in saving lives through environmental protection. Slashing EPA funding will result in the loss of critically important programs to maintaining human health.