The Enviro-Fix Is In: Green groups and EPA get their way — and you pay.

Green groups are using the courts to co-opt the Environmental Protection Agency, and taxpayers are being forced to cover the activists’ legal fees.Here’s how it works: Environmental groups craft lawsuits to force the EPA and other agencies to issue regulations. But because the EPA agrees with green groups’ radical environmental agenda, it often chooses not to defend itself, sometimes even providing environmental-advocacy organizations with information that will help them bring the case.The EPA then settles, negotiating the terms with the environmental groups without including those pesky states or industries sure to be affected by the new regulations. The court approves the consent agreement without analysis, as if it were a simple agreement between private parties. And once a settlement is reached, the court orders the EPA to issue rules according to the terms of its agreement.

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GT: OWEB weighs local conservation grants

Bennett Hall of the Corvallis Gazette-Times reports that, "A state agency will take comments on two grant requests to help fund conservation projects in the Corvallis area at a pair of public hearings this week." [That would be tomorrow, Thursday, January 31st from 10am-Noon at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library]. The state agency is Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

• Benton County is asking for $41,300 for an easement to protect habitat for an endangered butterfly
• The Greenbelt Land Trust is asking for $940,000 to complete the purchase of Bald Hill Farm.

Read more: Corvallis Gazette-Times Read More......