Making Dirty Air Permanent (TomPaine.com)

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Making Dirty Air Permanent
Frank O'Donnell
May 03, 2007


Frank O'Donnell is president of Clean Air Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization aimed at educating the public about clean air and the need for an effective Clean Air Act.

Parting, as Shakespeare put it, is such sweet sorrow.

But some of the people in the Bush administration that we’d like to part with aren’t going away—even though the Senate has sent clear signals that they ought to beat it.

Defying the Senate, the White House is trying to leave behind a polluter-friendly legacy (rather like planting a dangerous virus in a computer system) that will continue to plague us long after the President has gone back to clearing brush at the ranch.

Much has already been written about the legacy of the Bush Supreme Court, but it’s time to start paying more attention to this regulatory virus—and the damage it may cause.

The most recent example of pathogen policy is one William Ludwig Wehrum, Jr., who has been serving as the acting head of EPA’s air pollution division since his predecessor left in 2005 (ultimately through the proverbial revolving door to a law firm that represents coal-burning electric power companies).

Wehrum is one of the key architects of the Bush administration’s dirty-air policies, especially known for giving breaks to the coal-burning electric power industry. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05/03/making_dirty_air_permanent.php