Fox News is at it again promoting the GOP's anti-regulatory agenda and distorting the work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

On Fox & Friends today, co-host Steve Doocy suggested that although “our air and water have never been cleaner,” the EPA is stepping up its enforcement of environmental protections because “by mandate essentially, they've got to create the same amount in fines and fees year after year, so they have to stretch things out in order to figure out who to fine next.” Fox displayed on-screen text stating: “The EPA...A Collection Agency? How Regs Are Changed To Net More Cash.”

Doocy turned to “environmental consultant” Rich Trzupek to support his theory that the agency's rules are financially motivated. Trzupek agreed that “the system is so incredibly complex, and intentionally so, so you can generate the fine revenue.”

But Fox & Friends failed to disclose that Trzupek's consulting firm, Mostardi Platt Environmental, represents energy companies like Shell Oil and other corporations that stand to benefit from lax EPA enforcement.

Fox also neglected to mention that the EPA does not profit from enforcing its rules; revenue collected from EPA-imposed penalties is generally deposited in the U.S. Treasury. For example, Sec. 120 of the Clean Air Act specifically states that “All penalties assessed by the Administrator under this section shall be paid to the United States Treasury. All penalties assessed by the State under this section shall be paid to such State.” The agency therefore has no incentive to make compliance difficult in order to maximize revenue.

Today's segment is the latest in Fox's Regulation Nation series, which has repeatedly targeted the EPA and was apparently timed to coincide with House Republicans' anti-regulatory push.