Staff warned U.S. EPA head on Calif CO2 waiver rule - Reuters

[Eugene]

From the You cannot shame the shameless department...

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Source: Reuters

Staff warned U.S. EPA head on Calif CO2 waiver rule
Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:34pm EST

By Chris Baltimore

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Staff of the Environmental
Protection Agency warned the agency's head that he
might have to resign if he blocked attempts by California
to set first-ever limits on greenhouse gas emissions from
cars, according to internal agency documents released
by Congress on Tuesday.

-snip-

"It is obvious to me that there is no legal or technical
justification for denying this," Margo Oge, director of
the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, warned
in talking points prepared for a meeting with Johnson in
October 2007.

"You have to find a way to get this done," Oge said in
the memo obtained by the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee chaired by California Sen. Barbara Boxer,
which is investigating the decision.

"If you cannot, you will face a pretty big personal
decision about whether you are able to stay in the job
under those circumstances," Oge said in the talking points,
warning Johnson that "the eyes of the world are on you."

-snip-

"We see more and more evidence of administrator Johnson
ignoring the science and the facts, and discarding the
advice of his professional staff," Boxer told a news
conference, accusing the EPA and White House of
"stonewalling" her attempts to obtain additional
documents and data on the decision.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2633826820080226