In his prepared opening statement for the House Ag Committee Hearing with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Representative Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said, "I'm hearing a lot from the guys in my district and they are really worried about what the EPA is up to. I've met with producer groups from across the country and EPA regulations are nearly always on the top of their agenda. With all due respect to the Administrator and her testimony regarding EPA's commitment to science, transparency and the rule of law, farmers in the countryside don't see that."
Peterson said his farmers see an out of control agency that doesn't understand agriculture and doesn't want to understand. He said he keeps hearing that EPA is only doing what the courts are telling them to do. There seems to be a pattern of a lawsuit, followed by an EPA settlement, resulting in policy changes to comply with the settlement. This has been going on far too often and many times without adequate public disclosure.
"Policy should be developed in an open and transparent manner; unfortunately this "sue-and-settle" strategy keeps the process in the dark," Peterson said. He believes there is an opportunity for Congress to address some of these problems.
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