What do Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico have in common? They make up the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 6. They also constitute the core of America’s energy production, especially oil.
Thus, they needed to be taught a lesson. Who better for that than Alfredo J. Armendariz, the former EPARegion 6 administrator, who served as an expert witness for environmental groups before joining the EPA in November 2009?
Mr. Armendariz is no longer with the EPA. He resigned on April 30 for committing the sin of clarity. He was a little too honest in conveying the Obama administration’s way of doing business.
In a videotaped speech he made in Dish, Texas, in May 2010, that was posted on the website of Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, he answered a question this way:
“I was in a meeting once, and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement, and I think it was probably a little crude and maybe not appropriate for the meeting, but I’ll go ahead and tell you what I said. It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere; they’d find the first five guys they saw, and they would crucify them. And then, you know, that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. And so you make examples out of people, who are, in this case, not compliant with the law … and you make examples of them. … So, that is our general philosophy.”
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