The idea that the Environmental Protection Agency might hire as many as 230,000 new bureaucrats to staff a regulatory regime related to greenhouse gases is, without question, a shock to the system.

So it’s almost forgivable for professional Obama administration defenders and reflexive EPA protectors to scream that it ain’t so.

Almost.

On Monday we published a news story by Daily Caller reporter Matthew Boyle about this. Matthew reported that the EPA had found itself in the odd position of admitting that new regulations (as written) would force it to hire those 230,000 new federal employees — at an astonishing annual cost to taxpayers of $21 billion — in order to boost the number of greenhouse gas “polluters” it polices from 14,000 to a whopping 6.1 million.

If the Environmental Protection Agency has its way, that cloud of dust kicked up by the Lone Ranger’s faithful steed Silver probably would merit the famed lawman a stiff fine.

The EPA is in the process of toughening up its regulations on Course Particulate Matter, otherwise known as dust. The dust in question is commonly stirred up by cars and trucks traveling on unpaved roads in rural areas and farmers working the fields.

The EPA is plowing ahead with the regulations despite concerns from members of Congress and farmers that tougher standards on dust will harm farmers and ranchers and lead to higher food costs and job losses in rural America.

Rep. Robert Hurt, R-Va., has co-authored the bipartisan Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011 with Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., along with co-sponsors Reps. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, and Larry Kissell, D-N.C. The bill would prohibit the EPA “from burdening farmers and small business owners in rural America with additional dust

Wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds every year.

A July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass, Calif., estimated that its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, also estimated that about 10,000 birds—nearly all protected by the migratory bird act—are being whacked every year at Altamont.

Altamont's turbines, located about 30 miles east of Oakland, Calif., kill more than 100 times as many birds as Exxon's tanks, and they do so every year. But the Altamont Pass wind farm does not face the same threat of prosecution, even though the bird kills at Altamont have been repeatedly documented by biologists since the mid-1990s.

Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.

It isn't the first time that agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service have come knocking at the storied maker of such iconic instruments as the Les Paul electric guitar, the J-160E acoustic-electric John Lennon played, and essential jazz-boxes such as Charlie Christian's ES-150. In 2009 the Feds seized several guitars and pallets of wood from a Gibson factory

Over the next 18 months, the Environmental Protection Agency will finalize a flurry of new rules to curb pollution from coal-fired power plants. Mercury, smog, ozone, greenhouse gases, water intake, coal ash—it’s all getting regulated. And, not surprisingly, some lawmakers are grumbling.

Industry groups such the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities, and the American Legislative Exchange Council have dubbed the coming rules “EPA’s Regulatory Train Wreck.” The regulations, they say, will cost utilities up to $129 billion and force them to retire one-fifth of coal capacity. Given that coal provides 45 percent of the country’s power, that means higher electric bills, more blackouts and fewer jobs. The doomsday scenario has alarmed Republicans in the House, who have been scrambling to block the measures. Environmental groups retort that the rules will

The Environmental Protection Agency has doled out nearly $100 million in grants to foreign groups and governments over the past decade, according to a new congressional report.

The report from Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee shows the pace of foreign grants has quickened under the Obama administration, with $27 million in EPA funds going abroad since early 2009 -- not counting projects in Canada and Mexico.

The report said an unknown amount of EPA grant money has also gone overseas "indirectly" via grants to U.S. universities and organizations doing work in other countries.

Utility giant American Electric Power said Thursday that it will shut down five coal-fired power plants and spend billions of dollars to comply with a series of pending Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

The company’s dramatic plan to comply with the regulations could give Republicans and moderate Democrats ammunition in their ongoing fight against EPA's efforts to impose new regulations aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants including mercury and arsenic.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) immediately pounced on AEP's announcement.

“This is a perfect example of the EPA implementing rules and regulations without considering the devastating impact they may have on local economies and jobs,” Capito said. 

Capito said she will write a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson asking whether the agency took into account the economic impact of its regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency has given at least $1,285,535 in grants to China to promote environmental research in the country.

In all, the EPA issued six grants that went to China, most of which pertained to researching methane in Chinese coal mines and reducing carbon emissions in China, a communist dictatorship long criticized by human rights groups. Two of those grants were awarded during the Bush administration; four were awarded during the Obama administration.

Auto shoppers will soon be awash in factoids about the fuel efficiency of new cars, thanks to new labels the Obama administration says it will now require on vehicles. 

The labels, rolled out by the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, could start showing up on the showroom floor any day, if dealerships choose to use them. But starting early next year, they will be required on every model year 2013 car and truck. 

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement that the labels will give consumers "up-front information" about fuel costs and related stats before they buy. 

The labels contain a dizzying amount of information. Most prominent is the vehicle's fuel economy, broken down by average miles per gallon along with MPG ratings for city and highway driving.