Right Out of Business

 In farming circles a sign issuing a “Welcome to the Environmental Protection Agency” could be considered an oxymoron, since the very mention of the EPA often strikes fear and trepidation into the hearts of farmers and ranchers; not because farmers and ranchers aren’t environmentally aware or considerate, but because of the EPA’s track record of issuing unrealistic, irrational, and damaging restrictions and regulations onto the agriculture industry. The EPA’s most recent attempts at developing new national air quality standards on dust, due mainly to environmental activists and alarmists pressure, raises great concern for food producers. Even though most of the EPA’s air testing or monitoring is done in urban settings, it is rural areas which will be hit the hardest by federal dust standard restriction changes. Rural agricultural communities will in essence be punished for neighboring cities smog and pollution, where building construction, traffic congestion and over crowding are prevalent. If not careful, the EPA may just single handedly put agriculture right out of business, but at least we’ll have super clean air while we starve.