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Payroll Tax Bill With Poison Pills Angers Environmental And Public Health Advocates »

I know I find this hard to stomach.

Standing in the very same room in which landmark laws like the Clean Air Act were written, environmental and public health advocates expressed their dismay Tuesday as House Republicans voted to pass what the advocates called a “poisoned” and “preposterous” payroll tax bill.

Their key concerns: Two extraneous provisions that would delay EPA’s regulations on industrial boilers and expedite the controversial tar sands pipeline project known as Keystone XL. The rider-laden bill is not expected to pass the Senate.

“Time and time again, House Republicans have added ‘poison pill’ riders to must-pass legislation,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said during yesterday’s press conference in the EPW Committee Room. “This time these are really poison riders — because they are in essence saying we will have more poison in our atmosphere.”