John Hayward
Human Events
5/14/2013
The Environmental Protection Agency would like you to know it can abuse its power to punish Barack Obama’s political enemies as well as the next agency, thank you very much. In this case, it’s more a question of first-class seating and concierge service for Obama’s political allies, while those nasty conservatives get stuck in economy class, behind the jet engine, in the middle seat, right next to the screaming baby, while the flight attendants block off the lavatory with a beverage cart that never seems to get any closer to their seats….
…Conservative groups seeking information from the Environmental Protection Agency have been routinely hindered by fees normally waived for media and watchdog groups, while fees for more than 90 percent of requests from green groups were waived, according to requests reviewed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
CEI reviewed Freedom of Information Act requests sent between January 2012 and this spring from several environmental groups friendly to the EPA’s mission, and several conservative groups, to see how equally the agency applies its fee waiver policy for media and watchdog groups. Government agencies are supposed to waive fees for groups disseminating information for public benefit.
“This is as clear an example of disparate treatment as the IRS’ hurdles selectively imposed upon groups with names ominously reflecting an interest in, say, a less intrusive or biased federal government,” said CEI fellow Chris Horner…
…For 92 percent of requests from green groups, the EPA cooperated by waiving fees for the information. Those requests came from the Natural Resources Defense Council, EarthJustice, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, The Waterkeeper Alliance, Greenpeace, Southern Environmental Law Center and the Center for Biological Diversity…
…Maybe the Justice Department could look into this, as soon as it’s finished investigating the IRS, the State Department, the White House, and itself.
The complete article is at Human Events.
