Emily Cobb

March 15, 2009

As nearly every state in the country seeks to close unprecedented budget gaps, environmental protection programs and laws can join the ranks of health care and education as the latest victims of a struggling national and state economy. The environment is directly impacted when states slash funding to key programs and agencies. Some states are even weakening environmental standards and laws in order to save money.

The first example is California, which is closing its budget gap in part by relaxing air pollution standards in the housing industry. The measure would have required builders to retrofit diesel construction equipment. Postponing these requirements also has the effect of postponing the potential job growth necessary to comply with the new standards.

"In Oklahoma, the Department of Environmental Quality, which monitors the state's air and water quality as well as solid, hazardous and low-level radioactive waste, lost almost $2 million in appropriations from its current $9.7 million budget, a reduction of 20 percent. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board, responsible for setting water quality standards, enforcing dam safety regulations and managing Oklahoma's flood plains, lost more than $1.1 million from its $4.6 million budget, a 25 percent reduction."

In New York, farmland conservation efforts will be seriously weakened as a result of a 40% reduction in the states Farmland Protection Project, a project funded by the states Environmental Protection Fund. "These programs support farmers and rural businesses, while enabling farms to produce fresh, healthy foods, clean water and the beautiful landscapes that define much of New York." Barnyard runoff programs and other programs aimed at helping farmers will also suffer under the new budget plans.

When budget cuts are necessary and every state citizen and program is forced to sacrifice, the environment is clearly not immune.

Sources:

Josh Harkinson, As U.S. Tightens Environmental Rules, Cash-Strapped States Loosen Them, Mother Jones, Feb. 19, 2009, http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009/02/us-tightens-environmental-rules-cash-strapped-states-loosen-them.

Farmland Protection Program hurt by Paterson's budget, http://blog.syracuse.com/farms/2008/12/farmland_protection_program_hu.html (Dec. 19, 2008 05:18 EST).

Nancy Madsen, Barnyard Runoff Program Faces Cuts, Watertown Daily Times, Feb. 11, 2009, http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090211/NEWS03/302119989.

Press Release, American Farmland Trust, State Budget Cuts Would Impact Farms and Communities from Buffalo to Long Island (Dec. 18, 2008).