Issue: H.R. 2641 Responsibility and Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act of 2014.

Result:  Passed in House 229 to 179, 22 not voting. Democrats scored.

From Congressional Research Service Summary:   (Sec. 2) States that the purpose of this Act is to establish procedures to streamline … the regulatory review, environmental decision making, and permitting process for … construction activities undertaken, reviewed, or funded by federal agencies….

Defines “environmental review” as federal agency procedures for preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS), environmental assessment (EA), categorical exclusion, or other document under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).

Analysis: This bill addresses a serious federal overreach problem — the stranglehold on private and state development projects created by federal agencies in the name of protecting the environment.

Unfortunately, the House vote on this measure is pure GOP posturing (the GOP vote was 217 to 0 in favor). The bill will go nowhere in the Senate and never even reach the president’s desk for a guaranteed veto.

If the GOP-led House is going to posture, voters would be better served if the measure addressed the foundations of the problem.   Rather than attempting to lessen the burden of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), a principled GOP would call for NEPA’s repeal and challenge the real agenda of the Insider-supported environmental movement. The real agenda is to pave the way for an immense unconstitutional power grab, supported by internationalist-controlled institutions, using the scares of Insider-subsidized “science” as a pretext.

Of course, few politicians have the support to challenge the Insider-managed news that emissions and greenhouse gases, in particular, are bad and that the federal government has some responsibility to regulate them.

We do not score the GOP on this one, but we give credit to the 12 House Democrats who broke with their party leadership to support the measure.

We have assigned (good vote) to the Ayes and (bad vote) to the Noes. (P = voted present; ? = not voting; blank = not listed on roll call.)