The whistleblower, former senior Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official John Beale, accused House Republicans of lacking “empathy, compassion, or concern for anyone other than the special interests that fund the campaigns of many of the ‘soulless demons’ responsible for this outrageous vote,” in a statement to Politico. His comments were in response to this week’s vote in the House of Representatives to give the EPA a new $300 million headquarters building near the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Beale noted that the money used to build this facility could instead be used for more pressing needs. He noted that the $300 million could provide funding for lead remediation and testing for schools, restoring the air in communities and providing new clean air technology to low income communities, and providing people with access to clean drinking water. He argued that House GOP members “value dollars over individuals and the environment.”
Beale’s statement comes amidst growing criticism of the House Republican vote for the new EPA headquarters. Environmental groups have argued that a multi-million dollar building is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds at a time of climate change and other environmental issues. Some have urged the House GOP to reprioritize their spending allocations and move the money earmarked for the project to more important environmental projects like cleaning up polluted water supplies and stopping toxic air emissions.
