Adam Putnam is red hot over the Obama administration’s environmental priorities.
As Florida’s commissioner of agriculture, Putnam oversees the state’s forest service and 1 million acres of land. Fighting forest fires is one of its key responsibilities.
But due to a crackdown on diesel-fueled engines, firefighters could soon be without equipment on which they’ve come to rely. That’s an irony, considering the administration itself has been supplying agencies like the Florida Forest Service with diesel-powered trucks, backhoes, bulldozers and generators through two federal programs.
The Federal Excess Personal Property Program and the Firefighter Property Program both dole out discharged military surplus equipment to help first responders fight fires and expand emergency services. State forestry agencies can further distribute the equipment to local fire departments.
Earlier this month the programs were abruptly shut down.
“The simple answer from the administration is that the surplus equipment did not meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s air emissions standards,” Putnam explained in a statewide editorial Monday.
Continue reading at Watchdog.org
By William Patrick | Florida Watchdog
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