NH Primary: Republicans environmentally unsound

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the only Republican candidate for president who is not waging war on environmentalism, opposes the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to close or curb coal-fired electric power plants. Coal-fired powerhouses are a prime source of air pollution in the Eastern United States. /John Bailey image

The 2016 Republican presidential candidates want to destroy or defy the federal agency that a GOP president created to protect us from our worst selves.

Disgraced President Richard Nixon, R-Calif., did at least two good deeds for his country: He normalized relations with China and created the EPA. "The Congress, the Administration and the public all share a profound commitment to the rescue of our natural environment, and the preservation of the Earth as a place both habitable by and hospital to man," Nixon said in an urgent July 1970 message to Congress about launching the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The EPA is an essential element of the public's environmental protection vanguard. If the public does not like EPA policies, they should change the laws governing the agency. Destroying or defying the agency is a recipe for more environmental disasters.

Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump have all blasted the EPA.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush /AP photo

Somebody call a Wambulance for Jeb: "President Obama's Carbon Rule forces states to switch some of their energy generation from coal to renewable sources." -Jeb Bush 2016 campaign

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie /Reuters photo

Well-known windbag and bridge traffic jammer N.J. Gov. Chris Christie recently called the EPA plan to cut coal-fired energy production "the heavy-handed overreach of Washington."

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas /Image via www.salon.com

Not well-liked by his fellow senators, Ted Cruz calls the EPA plan to reduce coal-fired power-plant pollution "lawless and radical."

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida/Fox News image

"The EPA has unilaterally changed how the Clean Water Act is interpreted. Now it not only protects rivers and lakes, but also drainage ditches and private retaining ponds. So when mining or drilling, Jerry and Tom now have to take caution not to disturb bodies of water barely bigger than a puddle." -Marco Rubio

Billionaire blowhard Donald Trump /AP image

"Environmental Protection! What they do is a disgrace! Every week they come out with new regulations." -Donald Trump