(CNN) -- The way some Republicans talk about the Environmental Protection Agency, you would think it was created by a bunch of pot-smoking hippies communing at a nudist camp in northern California -- when in fact, the EPA was created by one of their own, Richard Nixon, in 1970.

Much as Republicans don't like to bring up the huge tax increases instituted by their hero, Ronald Reagan, they prefer to sidestep their role in the EPA's humble beginnings and blame it on Democrats. They characterize the whole thing as an albatross hanging around the economy's neck.

To be fair, Nixon did not ride into the White House as a conservationist, and he did veto the Clean Water Act. But he said he did so because of the price tag of the policy, not its purpose. After the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969 -- which at the time was the largest in U.S. history -- Nixon agreed with the rest of thinking society that clean water and air were a good thing. And his fingerprints are all over such tree-hugging initiatives as the Clean Air Act.

Sadly, if he tried any of that funny business today, his own party would probably impeach him. That's how far down the oil well some in the Republican leadership have fallen.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann said she would lock the EPA's doors and turn off its lights if she were president (thankfully there's no chance of that); Newt Gingrich said he would shut down the EPA and create a replacement to work with businesses to create jobs (making it more of a lapdog than watchdog); Rick Perry asked the president to halt all regulations, adding "his EPA regulations are killing jobs all across America."

Answer this series of questions:

1. What organization is in the topic?
2. When they started this organizaion?
3. Who did that?
4. Who are talking about it?
5. Are they positive about it?
6. Is there any other president mentioned?
7. Who was that?
8. What he did?
9. Are the political parties pointing fingers at each other?
10. Was the earlier POTUS mentioned really positive about all these?
11. What he did?
12. Why?
13. Did he change his mind afterwards?
14. Why?
15. When did that happen?
16. What else the POTUS did?
17. How he would have been regarded today for these?

Numbered answers:
1. Environmental Protection Agency
2. 1970
3. Richard Nixon
4. Republicans
5. no
6. yes
7. Ronald Reagan
8. increased taxes
9. unknown
10. No
11. veto
12. because of the price tag
13. yes
14. the Santa Barbara oil spill
15. 1969
16. helped with Clean Air Act
17. his own party would probably impeach him