This editorial was sent to the Post-Dispatch for publication July 22, 2015. When they posted the editorial, the Post-Dispatch failed to list ALL the organizations shown below that came together to draft this editorial. They also listed the editorial as in response to another editorial that had nothing to do with the subject at all. Great journalism! So the full story may be told, we are posting the full editorial here:
It is no surprise the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board has chosen to ignore real science again. What is surprising is the low depths to which they were willing to go to trivialize a legitimate public policy issue by engaging in name-calling and personal attacks.
Businesses of all types in Missouri, including manufacturing, mining, transportation, construction, real estate and energy, have objected to the outrageous power grab exemplified by the EPA in many areas: the carbon regulation is unreasonable and will boost electricity prices; the ozone regulation has the potential to stifle growth in nearly every county in Missouri by making nearly the entire state a “non-attainment area”; and now the water regulation intends to regulate dry creek beds, ditches, and other “waterways” that are regularly empty.
Farms and other businesses will be saddled with unnecessary new requirements for water permits for these new imaginary “bodies of water.” This will mean dry creek beds that have never been regulated before will now be subject to regulation and additional costs that will be passed on to all consumers.
Missouri legislators wisely passed bills that divorce Missouri’s water regulating statutes from the definitions adopted by EPA in this rule, but we don’t know if those changes will be enough to stop the strong arm of the federal government.
The Attorney General did the right thing by joining many other states in fighting this over-reaching regulation in court. We don’t expect the Post-Dispatch editors to understand, but we hope readers will understand this was a good move for Missourians and for our state’s employers of all types.
Associated Industries of Missouri
Associated General Contractors of Missouri
Home Builders Association of Missouri
Missouri Land Improvement Contractors Association
National Federation of Independent Business
The Regulatory Environmental Group for Missouri (REGFORM)
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