The EPA, Homeland Security's newest army
The EPA even has electromagnetic weaponry!
According to a new report by the watchdog group Open the Books.
“Everyone is under the impression that the EPA is spending money to ‘clean the environment.’ But, it turns out EPA is running a $160 million PR Machine, $715 million police agency, a near $1 billion employment agency for seniors, and a $1.2 billion in-house law firm,” said Adam Andrzejewski, the founder of Open the Books.
From page 13 of the report: EPA agents have the latest state of the art ‘policing’ gear such as “guns and ammunition,” “camouflage and other deceptive equipment,” “night vision,” “unmanned aircraft,” “radar,” “body armor,” “surveillance equipment,” “mobile GPS monitors,” and train and investigate frequently alongside “joint projects with Homeland Security (DHS).” “We were shocked ourselves to find these kinds of pervasive expenditures at an agency that is supposed to be involved in clean air and clean water, some of these weapons are for full-scale military operations”Andrzejewski said.
The EPA's electromagnetic weaponry...
On page 13 of the report, a line item for the EPA's $114,500 mentions, “5865: Electronic Countermeasures and Quick Reaction Capability Equipment.
From the federal government procurement description:
“Protecting the environment just got real. With millions of dollars spent on military style weaponry, the EPA is now literally ensconced with all institutional force,”Andrzejewski said.
The EPA spends nearly $75 million each year for criminal enforcement, including money for a small militia of 200 “special agents” charged with fighting environmental crime. The EPA calls their police officers criminal investigators or Special Agents. Within the Criminal Enforcement Program, there are 375 employees of which there are nearly 200 Special Agents. The annual budget of the Criminal Enforcement Program was $64 million (2006), $67 million (2007), $68 million (2008), $74 million (2009), $77 million (2010), and $73 million (2011).
The EPA also finances the salaries of 1,000 attorneys, making the agency one of the biggest law firms in America. Page 12 of the report reveals a disturbing result of the EPA's one thousand attorneys. The EPA has achieved close to a 90 percent conviction rate, which means a defendant either pled guilty or was convicted at trial.