Articles

Single-payer environmentalism : A recipe for disaster(s)

August 11, 2015 | By TIMOTHY SANDEFUR

The EPA is being roundly, and deservedly, attacked for the recent spill of toxic chemicals into the Animas River in Colorado—a nasty accident that’s turned the picturesque waterway an ugly yellow-orange. Locals are especially angry that the Agency hasn’t been forthcoming about precisely what damage has been done. The EPA itself seems ...

Articles

The lesson of the Animas River spill

September 10, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

In the Wall Street Journal, attorney and former high-ranking EPA official Bill Wehrum has an op-ed $ arguing that the Animas River spill shouldn’t lead to criminal punishment, but neither should similar accidents caused by private companies. As you’ll undoubtedly recall, last month workers for EPA accidentally breached an abandoned mine ...

Articles

Would EPA let a private business get away with this?

February 23, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Controversy continues to boil over the Animas River spill. In case you don’t recall, this spill occurred late last year when EPA contractors burst a plugged mine, sending three million gallons of waste water (including arsenic) into the Animas River and other waterways. EPA waited nearly 24 hours to tell anyone about the massive spill, ̷ ...

Articles

Double Standards Pollute EPA Enforcement

March 18, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

That’s the title of my Townhall oped on overcriminalization (a pervasive problem in environmental law) and EPA’s behavior in the wake of the Gold King spill. Here’s a taste: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” Bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency could stand to be reminded of that maxim, in t ...

Articles

Not everything should be a crime

October 27, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Over at The Daily Caller, I have an editorial discussing how the federal government’s hypocritical decision against prosecuting the EPA officials responsible for the Animas River spill highlights the urgent need to address overcriminalization. The decision, made by prosecutors who wouldn’t hesitate to throw the book at ordinary people, ...