Beware the Wrath of the EPA

“Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes.” I have ripped this line from the pages of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to demonstrate the severity, and ridiculousness, of a modern-day dust storm farmers and ranchers are facing today—the Wrath of the EPA. And like Ma and Pa Joad who did everything they could to save their farm from slipping away into the Dust Bowl, but ultimately lost to a force far greater than the any effort they could muster, this latest smite from Washington might just put our agricultural businesses under. The Environmental Protection Agency has apparently run out of things to regulate and tax, so it has come up with new guidelines for regulating “particulate matter emissions"—more commonly known to you and me as “dust.” Now, I know what you are thinking, this just can't be true. What kind of cockamamy scheme is this? The EPA “Dust Police” would specifically regulate farm dust. Farmers could be required to have dust collectors on their harvesters, planters, and haying equipment. But my personal favorite is the crackdown on dust created from driving your pickup truck down a dirt or gravel road. I could not make this stuff up. The federal government wants to regulate farm dust caused by driving. Farmers and ranchers are going to have to somehow limit the dust created by livestock on their property too...more

I hear Bason is really upset the feds are gonna regulate donkey dust. I can understand the feds position though, cuz Bason's neighbors say everywhere he rides his boot heels are kickin' up all kinds of dust.