US government acted to prevent EPA passing environmental legislation

[cynatnite]

The White House directly intervened in two key decisions by the Environmental Protection Agency, preventing proposed steps to reduce atmospheric pollution, it was revealed this week. It prevented the Agency from allowing individual states to impose strict carbon emissions restrictions on car manufacturers, and also directly rewrote a proposed adjustment to ozone pollution standards, illegally considering economic reasons.

snip:
“The sad fact is that the agency respnsible for protecting air quality and preventing global warming pollution is preventing them from doing it,” said Keith Hay, energy advocate at Environment Colorado. Along with the other 11 states, Colorado is now suing the EPA for failing to grant the waiver.

“Their position has been that global warming doesn’t actually exist,” said Hay of Government policy on carbon emissions. “It’s hard to legislate against something that you don’t believe in. That puts the states behind the 8-ball.”

Oversight Committee also revealed that that Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rewrote a proposed adjustment to the EPA’s two ozone pollution standards. The primary standard measures the effect on people, while the second calculates the effect on the environment. The Administrator had proposed basing the secondary standard on a longer-term seasonal measurement, rather than on the same short-term basis as the primary one. OMB executives overruled the decision, arguing that it did not consider “economic values”.

Such considerations are illegal, according to the House Committee’s analysis.

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2217160/white-house-epa-intervention

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Next question: why didn't the states sue in federal court to get these

stricter standards established. Federal law permits them to do this. Clean Air Act. Clean Water Act. Etc.

[cynatnite]

2. The govt. seems to be continuously undercutting the states...

http://www.fresnobee.com/384/story/617138.html

[cosmik debris]

3. The EPA does not pass legislation

And the government consists of executive, legislative and judicial branches. You need to be a little more specific.

[cynatnite]

4. I pasted this directly from that site...

now the link is dead. They must have pulled the story. :shrug:

[cosmik debris]

5. Perhaps the journalist got fired

For writing such ignorant headlines.