Apparently eager to keep the chaos going, House Republicans have put forth budget distractions instead of solutions that leadership from both parties agreed on earlier this year. The Biden administration has made it clear that all new amendments included in Republicans’ HR 4821 bill—their funding plan for the Department of the Interior and assorted environmental agencies—would be vetoed.
On Thursday, Rep. Lauren Boebert and her Republican colleagues decided to waste time by debating these dead-end budget cuts. Most (if not all) of the Republican Party’s “fiscal conservatism” is generated by rerouting taxpayer money toward big business, and Boebert’s example is an amendment to siphon away money earmarked for the Environmental Protection Agency. She used her time on the House floor to attack the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to end new oil leases on 1.6 million acres of public land in Colorado.
Despite numerous environmental and health concerns, as well as federal cases on the matter, she claimed this type of regulation means that “we've been regulated into poverty in Colorado's 3rd District.”
“In fact, I remember when I owned a small business,” she continued, “roughnecks used to come into my restaurant, and I knew that it was going to be a good, successful, profitable day because I had mud on my floor to clean up. But through regulations, there was no more mud to clean up on nearly any of our business floors, and many businesses shuttered forever.”
Boebert’s assertion that government regulations like this one are ruining the economy is hogwash. A recent report by the Colorado Fiscal Institute explains that the oil and gas industry’s role in Colorado’s economy is vastly overstated:
The oil and gas extraction industry, along with the pipeline construction and transportation industries and support industries for oil and gas make up just 1.8% of total wages in the state, 3.4% of total personal income, 3.3% of GDP and less than 1% (0.7%) of total employment.
But yes, Rep. Boebert, do tell about your sad mud-free floors.
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