The EPA Needs to Chill

Suddenly, summer is upon us in full force. If there is any way to beat the oppressive heat and humidity, it's indoors with the air conditioning on. Only, the EPA doesn't want you to get that relief.

The EPA is speeding up a regulation to phase out the use of Freon in air conditioners. Not satisfied with how quickly the air conditioning market is adapting to the use of new coolants, the EPA failed to set Freon allocations for air conditioning manufacturers this year. Since the agency controls the production and import of Freon, it can freely control prices for an essential element in the cooling process in most air conditioners.

The result of the EPA's war on Freon is a 400 percent price spike in its cost. If you are having your air conditioner serviced this summer, you may be in for an expensive surprise and a hotter summer than you planned.

EPA regulation of our air conditioners is further evidence that the federal government is creeping into every aspect of daily life. When the government interferes in private markets to enforce regulations dreamed up by unelected bureaucrats, they create enormous costs for ordinary Americans. Jobs, families and communities are on the line every time a federal bureaucracy takes on an "air conditioner tax."

In Southern Missouri, we are particularly vulnerable to the extreme agendas of liberals entrenched in career government jobs. They want to regulate dust on our agricultural operations. They want to force Missouri manufacturers to shut down due to air pollution that comes down the Ohio River Valley. They want the rules for storing oil to apply to milk on our dairies. They want to obliterate flood protection so fish can spawn more freely. They want to expand the definition of navigable waters to include dry ditches. They want to decide what can and cannot be in the tire valve stem of an ATV. In every conceivable way, the government is interested in making rules to govern how we live.

If we do not assert our congressional check and balance against the massive powers of the Administration, we will allow them to hogtie whole sectors of our American economy. We run the risk of becoming a nation of regulations, which is NOT what our Founders had in mind when they advocated for a federal government and reserved the balance of authority reserved for states.

Regulations create uncertainty and fear, they stifle job creation and discourage investment. They are every bit as harmful as taxes in our economy. We understand that in our homes and communities, at the local level, but not in the labyrinth of federal agencies which soak up billions in funding for thousands of bureaucrats.

And if you think the EPA regulations on air conditioners are extreme during our long, hot Missouri summer, just wait until you find out what they have planned for your fireplace this winter. There's more.