Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest

[salin]

Source: Washington Post

Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest
EPA Scrambles To Justify Action

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 14, 2008; Page A01

The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual last-minute intervention by President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA.

EPA officials initially tried to set a lower seasonal limit on ozone to protect wildlife, parks and farmland, as required under the law. While their proposal was less restrictive than what the EPA's scientific advisers had proposed, Bush overruled EPA officials and on Tuesday ordered the agency to increase the limit, according to the documents.

"It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference for the president personally to override a decision that the Clean Air Act leaves exclusively to EPA's expert scientific judgment," said John Walke, clean-air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

----

Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA's past submissions to the Supreme Court, according to sources familiar with the conversation. As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031304175.html?nav=rss_busines

[KeepItReal]

1. What is the opposite of environmentalist? Anti-environmentalist?

FYI: I go to the link and I see an ad on "Clearing the Air" by Royal Dutch Shell (of Big Oil fame). I shit you not.

[trusty elf]

2. Evil bastard!

:grr:

[wordpix]

19. pro-polluter

[pleah]

3. Hope people are paying attention.

[tanyev]

4. Oh yes, the Bush administration can act with competent efficiency when they really want to.

Competent in the sense that they are able to accomplish the goals they have--not that the goals themselves are worthy.

[wordpix]

21. it works well as long as the sleeping sheeple don't mount an insurgency

The well-fed populace is doing fine, thank you. For awhile. :hide:

[formercia]

5. How many people is this going to kill?

Let alone additional medical expenses from ozone related respiratory and other problems.

[junior college]

6. Isn't this illegal?

When will his free pass expire?

[boilinmad]

7. Honestly...

....what the fuck is wrong with this idiot????

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Soon after Bush took power, someone haunted the internet, posting, "He brings death"...

again and again. How prescient that person was.

An outraged K&R.

[YankeyMCC]

9. Making environmental decisions based on the advice of

accountants and lawyers and ignoring the advice of scientists and environmental field workers is evidence of insanity - an obliviousness to reality or at least how to make reality based decisions - but I guess that's par for the course for this administration.

[Igel]

17. This article is all I've heard about this.

It seems to me that I don't understand what the real issue was. Just that it's billed as a political issue since the OMB appears to be the mover and shaker behind the scenes, thwarting the tech and science people at the EPA, and when you take the headline into account it's obviously a dispute between the OMB and EPA.

But the last two paragraphs say that's not who the dispute was between:

"In recent weeks the Agriculture Department has weighed in against making the public welfare ozone standard tougher. The department expressed concerns about the impact additional pollution controls might have on agriculture and development of biofuels, especially ethanol.

"The department made its concerns known to OMB. EPA officials said the need was clear for a different standard for public welfare and that drifting ozone pollution has been found to cause "adverse effects" on agricultural crops, forests and vegetation."

My question, and the one anybody that believes that scientists and field workers should have a strong say in policy, is who in the Ag Dept. was doing the weighing in. Was it bean counters and lawyers (who should still have some say, since we don't live in a technocracy)? Does the Ag Dept. have scientists, or should things like biofuel policy have an impact outside of just the Ag Dept.? Those things I don't know. I'd like the article to have gone on a few more paragraphs so I could understand the issue before making a judgment.

[Traditional Liberal]

22. the issue was

Now you have to use your imagination for the next part.

EPA gives OMB the rule for their review, on behalf of the White House.

Ag tells OMB that the US Department of Agriculture doesn't like it.

(Can you imagine the resumé of Department personnel that works for Ag, speaks for the Department and says the Department doesn't like an environmental provision prescription-made to protect America's cropland?)

OMB tells EPA, WE don't like it.

EPA remarkably, says too bad, it's solid science.

It gets elevated.

You know the rest.

[goforit]

10. Busy, busy busy.....While America watches sex scandals & their wallet,

We've got the swatztiska boys building up their shop!!!

[librechik]

11. Bush's legacy--tie up the new president's time cleaning up after his mess

so he/she can't solve our real problems. By the next election they can blame those problems on the Dems again. People will have forgotten.

[Doctor_J]

12. Why does a Resident with a 19% approval rating get to behest things?

or whatever the verb is?

:wtf:

[sudopod]

13. WTF?

What do they do at the EPA these days? Sit around playing Brawl from 9 to 5?

It's clear they aren't expected to do anything like, I dunno. protecting the environment.

[LeighAnn]

14. President Bush intervened to settle dispute over smog rule

Source: KVAL-TV, Eugene Oregon

The Environmental Protection Agency agreed to weaken an important part of its new smog requirements after being told at the last minute that President Bush preferred a less stringent approach, according to government documents.

They show tense exchanges between the EPA and the White House Office of Management and Budget in the days before the smog air quality standard was announced Wednesday.

Changes directed by the White House were made only hours before the agency issued the regulation. The late activity forced the EPA to delay the announcement for five hours.

The disagreement concerned the amount of protection from ozone, or smog, that should be afforded wildlife, farmlands, parks and open spaces.


Read more: http://www.kval.com/news/national/16675866.html

[sofa king]

15. What an asshole.

What this guy fucks up in a day won't be fixed in my lifetime.

[wordpix]

20. I look forward to *'s retirement as he fights off one lawsuit after another with no "executive

privilege" to hide behind. Evil bastard. :grr:

[appleannie1]

16. How to kill people that use the profits of insurance companies

by seeking medical attention for respiratory problems. Nice.

[modrepub]

18. Standard doesn't do squat

Most places will be below this standard without doing a thing. So they look good by lowering the standard (but not as much as the scientific advisory committee advised) and industry really doesn't have to impose any costly controls! So far nobody has picked up on this.