Friday, September 19, 2014

GOP Senate Majority Would ‘Ramp Up’ Green Group Oversight

Senate Republicans’ top environmental watchdog is determined to intensify oversight of leading environmentalist groups, which he says are orchestrating a massive, coordinated political effort financed by a handful of billionaire activists. Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview on Thursday that he is pleased with the investigative work to date by Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee (EPW), which Vitter chairs. If Republicans retake the Senate in November, as numerous forecasting models and political analysts have predicted, Vitter said his committee would dramatically increase its scrutiny on environmentalist organizations such as the Natural Resource Defense Council and the Sierra Club. “We go into the majority and we are able to ramp that up even more and in an even more effective way because we have significantly more powers in terms of calling hearings, calling witnesses, and subpoenaing documents when necessary,” Vitter said. “So that’s the logical extension of our work to date.” That work has included intense scrutiny on a network of environmentalist groups that a recent EPW report dubbed the “billionaire’s club.”...more

Better yet, quit putting federal $$ in the enviro orgs budgets, quit funding agencies that do their bidding and amend environmental statutes so they are more reasonable.  That would do more for the public than just issuing reports or holding hearings. 

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