This brought to you by Biden’s weaponized EPA that usurps federal power.

The Biden administration boasted in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report released Thursday about the unprecedented prosecution of a California man for “smuggling greenhouse gases” across the border from Mexico and selling them online.

Michael Hart, 58, was arrested in March and pleaded guilty in September to charges related to transporting refrigerants into the US to peddle on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and other online vendors between June and December 2022.

Biden’s EPA touted the crackdown on Hart, the first-ever person charged for climate change-related bootlegging of refrigerants — namely, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCs) — without the agency’s approval, in its report.

The reality is, Michael Hart’s only crime was attempting to assist those in need of refrigerants for air conditioning and refrigerators, a vital resource in California, where the state’s worsening conditions—largely due to its environmental policies—have made life increasingly difficult. While breaking the law cannot be justified, in this case, it’s a matter of survival for Californians who are already struggling with high energy bills, food costs, and frequent rolling blackouts.

The rise of a significant black market for HFCs is a direct consequence of EPA and California’s restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons. Prosecuting Michael Hart and imposing further crackdowns on their production and distribution will only exacerbate the situation. This isn’t about tackling climate change or the rule of law —it’s about ruining people’s lives.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay