Fox News host John Stossel says that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has passed its prime, and is no longer useful. After the Obama Administration last week overruled the EPA’s smog regulations, Stossel took to the airwaves on the Fox Business Channel to tell us that the EPA is no longer a worthwhile organization. Stossel told us: “Thank goodness for the EPA…The air and water are cleaner than they use to be. But they passed those rules. It’s diminishing returns. They have done a wonderful job, stop already. Stick a fork in it, it’s done.”
Raw Story has video of Stossel’s segment:
In his decision to overturn the EPA’s smog ruling, Obama told Americans that he wanted to avoid “costly regulations” that could potentially harm businesses. He also claimed that his administration is still 100% committed to standing with the “hard working” folks at the EPA. However, his actions last week clearly show that he is not 100% committed.
In spite of the administration’s actions, the EPA is far from “done,” as Stossel tells us. This is just the latest in a long line of anti-climate, anti-environment stances that Stossel has taken over the years.
Prior to joining News Corp, Stossel was a regular contributor to ABC’s 20/20 and Good Morning America. During his time with ABC, Stossel took quite a few shots at the science behind climate change, as well as environmentalists. In a 2007 piece on 20/20, Stossel took the time to straighten out the public on a few climate change “myths”:
MYTH: The Earth is warming because of us!
TRUTH: Maybe. The frantic media suggest it’s all about us. But the IPCC only said it is likely that we have increased the warming.
MYTH: There will be storms, flooded coasts and huge disruptions in climate!
TRUTH: There are always storms and floods. Will there be much bigger disruptions in climate? Probably not.
In the same piece, Stossel tells viewers that “global warming” might actually be beneficial to humans:
The fundamentalist doom mongers also ignore scientists who say the effects of global warming may be benign. Harvard astrophysicist Sallie Baliunas said added CO2 in the atmosphere may actually benefit the world because more CO2 helps plants grow. Warmer winters would give farmers a longer harvest season, and might end the droughts in the Sahara Desert.
A year later, Stossel took the time during a speech to attack both scientists and Al Gore. He tells us that most of the climate change “hype” is just a media creation:
On his Fox show, Stossel has warned the public that, when it comes to climate change, the best thing we can do is to just all calm down.
Stossel freely admits that he is not a climate scientist, nor is he an expert on the issue, yet his powerful positions on both ABC News and Fox News Channel have allowed him to spout his non-expert opinions to people who believe he is telling them facts.
Stossel’s belief that the EPA should close up shop is shared by numerous Republican politicians who have vowed to shut down the agency should they regain the White House in 2012. For the sake of the planet, let’s just hope that the EPA is allowed to continue doing their job, in spite of the massive opposition that they face from ideologues and pundits.
