State Senators help prevent barbecue regulations

LANSING — Senators Tom Casperson and Phil Pavlov may have just saved tailgating season.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded a University of California-Riverside student project to develop preventative technology to reduce emissions from residential barbecues and personal grills. However, the Michigan Senate passed resolutions sponsored by Casperson and Pavlov to oppose that study.

“It is now football season, and that means tailgating. The EPA appears eager to pour cold water on this great American pastime,” said Pavolv, vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, “By funding this project, the EPA is searching for a solution to a problem that does not exist.”

“This effort by the EPA to examine people’s backyard barbecues is just the latest in a long string of ridiculous and overly burdensome regulations driven by and pursued by the EPA,” added Casperson, chairmain of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, “To spend time on issues such as this is a gross waste of taxpayer money and agency time.”

The resolutions, Senate Resolution 56 and 14, state that cooking outdoors on a grill during the summer saves electricity and that funding the UC-Riverside study is a poor use of tax payer dollars. Both are now headed to the Michigan House for consideration.