EPA Arms Special Agents with Weaponry – Spends Millions to Combat Environmental Crime

by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton | October 10, 2015 4:41 pm

So, the EPA has their own private army.[1] How nice. They are armed to the teeth to fight environmental crime. Obama is stripping local police of the weaponry and giving it to these thugs. They have more than 1,000 blood-sucking lawyers on staff. Peachy. They have 200 special agents to enforce Obama’s laws – just call them the climate change police. The weaponry given to these people would make a SEAL blush. They are spending millions of dollars on this weaponry according to the watchdog group Open the Books. The EPA was first granted police powers by Congress in 1988. That was a big mistake.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this Sept. 16, 2015, file photo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)[2]

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this Sept. 16, 2015, file photo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

From The Washington Times:

The Environmental Protection Agency[3] has spent millions of dollars over the last decade on military-style weapons to arm its 200 “special agents” to fight environmental crime.

Among the weapons purchased are guns, body armor, camouflage equipment, unmanned aircraft, amphibious assault ships, radar and night-vision gear and other military-style weaponry and surveillance activities, according to a new report by the watchdog group Open the Books.

“Protecting the environment just got real. With millions of dollars spent on military style weaponry, the EPA[4] is now literally ensconced with all institutional force,” said Adam Andrzejewski, founder of Open the Books and the author of the report.

“Our report discovered that when the EPA[4] comes knocking they are armed with a thousand lawyers, arrest/criminal data, credit, business and property histories, plus a ‘Special Agent’ with the latest in weaponry and technology,” Mr. Andrzejewski added.

The agency[5] spends nearly $75 million each year for criminal enforcement, including money for a small militia of 200 “special agents” charged with fighting environmental crime.

Congress granted police powers to the EPA[4] in 1988, during the Reagan administration.

The special agent “enforces the nation’s laws by investigating cases, collecting evidence, conducting forensic analyses and providing legal guidance to assist in the prosecution of criminal conduct that threatens people’s health and the environment,” according to the EPA[4]’s website.

The EPA[4] estimates that each Special Agent costs taxpayers $216,000 per year in salary, travel, equipment, training and other expenses, according to the report.

The EPA[4]’s military weapons spending is just one example of the agency[5]’s questionable purchases highlighted in the 40-page report.

Open the Books, a nonpartisan and nonprofit group based in Illinois, scanned tens of thousands of the agency[5]’s spending contracts totaling more than $93 billion from 2000 to 2014.

Among the findings[6] were hundreds of millions of dollars on high-end office furnishings, sports equipment and “environmental justice” grants to raise awareness of global warming.

The report also reveals that seven of 10 EPA[4] employees make more than $100,000 a year and more than 12,000 of its 16,000 employees were given bonuses last year despite budget cuts.

The EPA[4] also employs more than 1,000 attorneys, making it one of the largest law firms in the country.

The agency[5] also sent over $50 million since 2000 to international organizations, including groups in Mexico and China.

Some of their employees make six figures a year. They buy high-end office furniture, sports equipment and have environmental justice grants. Then they go out and ruin people’s lives. There may be budget cuts in other federal agencies and departments, but not at the EPA. They are growing – alarmingly so. I’ll bet that 40-page report is just full of all kinds of unconstitutional goodies. I can only pray that when a conservative gets into office, that one of the first things they will do is gut the EPA and do away with it. I can dream.

Endnotes:
  1. So, the EPA has their own private army.: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/10/epa-spends-millions-on-military-style-weapons-repo/
  2. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/EPA.jpg
  3. Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/environmental-protection-agency/
  4. EPA: http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/environmental-protection-agency/
  5. agency: http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/environmental-protection-agency/
  6. findings: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/24/golden-hammer-epas-fondness-for-high-end-furniture/?page=all

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