GOP lawmaker says EPA comments 'enviro-fascism at its worst'

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) said Thursday afternoon that an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official's comparison to the work of the EPA to crucifixion in Roman times shows that the agency is practicing "enviro-fascism."

"This is enviro-fascism at its worst, and if someone needs to be made an example of, it's this EPA official who disregarded science and facts to randomly and negligently pursue the Obama administration's war on energy," Fleming said.

Fleming was reacting to a report that in 2010, EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz used a metaphor about getting companies to comply with environmental rules that compared it to how the Romans acted centuries ago.

"The Romans used to conquer the villages in the Mediterranean," he said. "They'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw, and they would crucify them. And then, you know, that town was really easy to manage for the next few years."

"The EPA is out to get you and crucify you," Fleming said. "That's the message from one of President Obama's EPA appointees to our country's oil and natural gas companies."

The EPA official apologized after Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) repeated the comments on the Senate floor Wednesday night.

"I apologize to those I have offended and regret my poor choice of words," he said. "It was an offensive and inaccurate way to portray our efforts to address potential violations of our nation’s environmental laws."

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