Wednesday, September 07, 2011
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson vs. Barack Obama
In a move that floored his environmental supporters, President Barack Obama late last week killed a tough new anti-smog plan proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Obama’s decision was exactly what Republicans and business interests wanted, having alleged that the regulations would hamper economic growth.
The EPA, meanwhile, considered the smog rule a top priority for health reasons, arguing that air pollution has been shown to contribute to early death, heart attacks and lung problems, including bronchitis and asthma.
The EPA toughened the standard for ozone, the main component in smog, during the George W. Bush administration in 2008. Under Obama the agency sought even tighter restrictions, reducing allowable levels for ground-level ozone to a range of 60-70 parts per billion (ppb), instead of the current standard of 75 ppb.
Obama said he decided against making the smog rule stronger because it would put too big a burden on large manufacturers in tough economic times. Environmentalists were alarmed by the decision.
“The White House is siding with corporate polluters over the American people,” Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) President Frances Beinecke said in a statement. “The Clean Air Act clearly requires the Environmental Protection Agency to set protective standards against smog—based on science and the law. The White House now has polluted that process with politics.”
Pete Altman, also of the NRDC put it more bluntly, stating that President Obama “had a ‘bad air day’.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Obama Yanks Smog Rule, But Business Groups Want More (by Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers)
Killing the Ozone Rule: President Obama's Bad Air Day (by Pete Altman, National resources Defense Council)
Industry Victory: Obama Withdraws EPA's Stricter Smog Standards (Environment News Service)
Stung by the President on Air Quality, Environmentalists Weigh Their Options (by Leslie Kaufman, New York Times)
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