A new congressional report from House Republicans claims the Biden-Harris administration funneled billions in taxpayer funds to “environmental justice” funding for political reasons. [emphasis, links added]
The Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Committee released a staff report Monday outlining the allegations.
“As part of its aggressive green agenda, the government has given hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds to activists who are also engaged in political activities,the lawmakers behind the report said in a joint statement.
“Democrats in Congress mandated this, they forced a piece of legislation through that The aim is to get money out as quickly as possible, without safeguards against waste, fraud and abuse.
The report noted that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a Democratic bill, would, among other things, allocate about $41 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency, four times its annual budget, including $3 billion for environmental justice funding.
The EPA defines environmental justice as “Fair treatment and meaningful participation for all…”, These include ensuring that no group is disproportionately affected by environmental decisions.
It also includes working toward “equitable access to healthy, sustainable, and resilient environments in which to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and engage in cultural and existential practices.”
To that end, the EPA began issuing grants, but Republicans said the money was being distributed unfairly.
From the report:
The list of organizations selected to receive funding or work with these groups includes environmental activist groups that work to influence the public and elected officials to adopt their often extreme views, Such as completely eliminating the use of fossil fuels, which Americans consider an important part of the energy mix for all of the above.
While some selected organizations include other types of entities, such as higher education institutions, many are special interest environmental nonprofits.
These organizations, whose views and missions often align with those of the administration, are effectively using taxpayer dollars to advance the aggressive Biden-Harris energy agenda.
While organizations must use these grants for specific purposes, acceptable uses of funds are broad enough to include activities such as “public outreach” or “public education.”
The IRA language also allows grant recipients to use the award to “promote the participation of disadvantaged communities in state and federal advisory groups, workshops, rulemakings, and other public processes.”
In short, the EPA awards taxpayer dollars to special interest groups committed to a radical energy agenda to “educate” others, drive public advocacy, and assist those it engages with to influence government decisions and outcomes.
One might think of this as akin to taxpayer-funded lobbying. Given these organizations' existing efforts to influence public opinion, they may use these awards to try to indoctrinate community members to whom they conduct outreach.
The EPA refuted the accusations, pointing to their review process for grant recipients.
“All eligible applications submitted for EPA funding undergo a rigorous competitive process“, EPA spokesman Joseph Dominic told The Center Square.
“EPA takes program integrity very seriously and will continue to pursue the Biden-Harris Administration's environmental justice goals in a robust and transparent manner. The agency has multiple safeguards in place to ensure that grant activities are fully consistent with Appropriation commitments and laws that Congress directs EPA to implement.
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