Budget Bill

In last week's pre-Christmas rush, the U.S. Congress [slammed:smacked] together the $1-trillion federal budget bill for 2015, just before funds ran out. But the bill wasn't all about the money. Congress took advantage of the fiscal [scramble:scrabble] to change rules about the environment and energy, which do not belong in appropriation bills. Normally such changes are encoded in what are called "laws," and are debated out in the open. But the budget bill is a chance for Congress to slip in [controversial:disputable] rules - called riders - without much debate. If members object, the bill stalls and the government shuts down - and no one wants to be [blamed:accused] for that fiasco. So the riders gallop in.The Environmental Protection Agency got its budget, for instance, but with strings [attached:fixed] : although agriculture is a major source of atmospheric methane, the EPA now is [prohibited:banned] from using its money to require farmers to report greenhouse gas emissions. And the agency cannot regulate farm ponds and irrigation ditches under the Clean Water Act.