In NH, Newt Gingrich explains Environmental Solutions Agency

Newt Gingrich fielded a question about his plan to replace the EPA with something called the Environmental Solutions Agency at the January 8, 2012 NBC News Facebook Debate in Concord, New Hampshire.

“Speaker Gingrich,what exactly is an ‘Environmental Solutions Agency?” asked John Distaso, a political reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader.  “I think a lot of people might not know or understand that, why you wanted to disband the EPA and set up something that kind of looks like the EPA.”

Here is a transcript of the former House Speaker’s response:

Newt Gingrich: If you look at the EPA's record, it is increasingly radical.  It's increasingly imperious.  It doesn't cooperate.  It doesn't collaborate.  And it doesn't take into account economics.  The City of Nashville, recently, had a dump that was cited by EPA.  They went out to find out what was it being cited for.  And they told them, frankly, "We don't know.  We can't find the records that led to this citation.  And we're not exactly sure what to reference, but it must be bad or we wouldn't have sent it out."   

In Iowa, they had a dust regulation underway, because they control particulate matter.  And I do agree on clean air.  There are things they should do (UNINTEL).  But dust in Iowa is an absurdity.  And they were worried that the plowing of a cornfield would leave dust to go to another farmer's cornfield.  And they were gonna -- they were plannin' (UNINTEL) regulation.

In Arizona, they went in on the dust regulation and suggested to them that maybe if they watered down the earth, they wouldn't have these dust storms in the middle of the year.  And people said to 'em, "You know, the reason it's called a desert is there's no water."  Now this is an agency out of touch with reality, which I believe is incorrigible, and you need a new agency that is practical, has common sense, uses economic factors, and in case of pollution, actually, incentivizes change, doesn't just punish it.

Newt Gingrich’s 21^st Century Contract With America provides a more focused description of the role the Environmental Solutions Agency would play:

We must also replace the EPA, which pursues an anti-jobs agenda the economy simply cannot sustain. A pro-growth Environmental Solutions Agency in its place will operate on the premise that most environmental problems can and should be solved by states and local communities. Rather than emphasizing centralization and regulation, it would emphasize coordination with states and local communities, the sharing of best practices, and focus on incentives for new solutions, research and technologies.

Newt Gingrich photo by Gage Skidmore