The EPA plays a vital role. If individual states were allowed to set their own environmental standards, it would be a race to the bottom. Job poaching governors and state legislators would ease environmental regulations (such as they currently offer tax credits and deferments) in effort to allure industries to their respective states. The Great Lakes and the entire Gulf Coast would be a cesspool, and states like Colorado would have EVEN MORE toxic waste pits left behind for the taxpayers to clean up, after the mining companies have extracted the profits.
Creating the EPA is undoubtedly Richard Nixon's greatest achievement. Is the EPA perfect? Certainly not, but that doesn't mean that the baby should be thrown out with the toxic bathwater.
