Over the past week in Washington, DC, Republican legislators in Congress have been debating steep budget cuts to many publicly-funded programs such as PBS, Planned Parenthood and the EPA. In today’s Boston Globe, Senator Brown’s wavering stance on environmental issues, specifically the regulation of greenhouse gases by the EPA, is dissected in a scathing editorial review.  In the article, it’s noted that Brown’s turnaround on greenhouse gas regulation is “…especially disappointing to any Massachusetts voters who thought they saw in Brown a conservative on fiscal issues who was also a conservationist when it comes to protecting the environment.”  The editorial piece further points out that Brown’s vote prohibits any improvement in auto fuel-efficiency standards after 2016 and continues to deny that green house gases directly contribute to climate change.  Ironically, Brown voted in favor of Massachusetts’ participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which requires utilities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions or face financial penalties. Massachusetts, much like California, is one of the few states leading the way in green, clean energy and job creation – an economy that brings significant revenue and technological development to the state.  In fact, Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to combine energy and the environment into one governmental body: the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.  For Senator Brown to deny his constituents and instead favor private Koch donations and coal and oil interests is a local tragedy.