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Today's Must Read
If there's one thing EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson doesn't like to talk about, it's his conversations with the White House. When questioned about some decision that just happened to delight the White House, Johnson, the most disciplined adherent to talking points in recent memory, responds with a version of "the final decision was mine and mine alone" or "I have routine contacts with various officials on a wide range of issues. . . . I value the ability to have candid discussions that are part of good government."
But unfortunately, sometimes you just can't keep a lid on things. Earlier this week, the EPA issued a new rule on the allowable amount of smog-forming ozone in the air. It was a decision taken against the unanimous advice of EPA scientists, who advised a much lower standard than the one ultimately decided upon. That has come to be a sadly regular occurrence. But this time, the role of the White House -- and President Bush himself -- is clear. From The Washington Post:
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.
The White House's intervention was so last minute and arbitrary that the Justice Department was evidently set to scrambling in an effort to find the legal support for it. As the Post reports, the effect of the decision will likely be long term: "Under the Clean Air Act, the federal government must reexamine every five years whether its ozone standards are adequate, and the rules that the EPA issued Wednesday will help determine the nation's air quality for at least a decade."
The White House's influence (first reported by The Los Angeles Times earlier this week) was made evident by documents that the EPA was forced to produce in support of the decision. And in those documents, you can see the different ways EPA scientists and White House officials approached the problem. One the one side, you have concern for the environment. On the other, concern for "personal comfort and well-being":
The EPA's documents suggest that senior officials and scientific advisers resisted the White House's position. Last year, the agency's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee wrote -- using italics for emphasis -- that it unanimously supported the EPA staff's conclusion that "protection of managed agricultural crops and natural terrestrial ecosystems requires a secondary [ozone standard] that is substantially different from the primary ozone standard. . . ."When the OMB's Susan E. Dudley urged the EPA to consider the effects of cutting ozone further on "economic values and on personal comfort and well-being," the EPA's Marcus Peacock responded in a March 7 memo: "EPA is not aware of any information that ozone has beneficial effects on economic values or on personal comfort and well being."
You can be sure that Johnson's next trip to Capitol Hill will put his talking points to the test.
Josh
Zachary
Unreal and Outrageous! When will there be any accountability? We can only hope some day Bush will be sitting on trial for all of the wrong he has done this country. It will be interesting to see this tool, Johnson squirm out of this one. And what is all of this for, OIL. Enough Already!
March 14, 2008 10:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I believe if you check the record we did have an "accountability moment". According to Mr. Bush it was the election, and we lost.
March 14, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone wanna wager that Susan Dudley's professional experience with air quality regs, ozone's deleterious effects on humans, and the actual, factual economic impact of such lower levels starts and stops with whatever she could wiki during a 5 minute coffee break?
March 14, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
"EPA is not aware of any information that ozone has beneficial effects on economic values or on personal comfort and well being."
Ah, but not reducing the levels based on the best available science that are most protective of human health and the environment does increase the "personal comfort" of large polluters. So, it's all good. And the hundreds of excess deaths per year apparently are worth it, according to this administration. Disgusting!
March 14, 2008 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Unreal and Outrageous! When will there be any accountability? "
Probably never.
March 14, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
We've got a recession coming and the answer is MORE OZONE!
I love that scientists report that ozone should be reduced because, you know, it's not so good for everybody and the OMB asks them to take a second look because somehow ozone helps the economy and makes us more comfortable. Whoever thought that one up is a friggin genius!
An evil genius, but a genius nonetheless.
March 14, 2008 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I suppose this is just redundant at this point, but... isn't the EPA an independent agency? Isn't it illegal for the White House to give it directives?
March 14, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, unfortunately. The head of the EPA is appointed by the President. Many who believe in the unitary executive theory (a good portion of the Supreme Court now) think that the President can issue orders demanding that officials in those agencies take a specific action. Some also believe the President can use his executive authority to "step into the shoes" of those officials and act in their capacity without even issuing an order or directive.
March 14, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps there used to be a time when actual reality mattered, and there was some sense of right and wrong. For example, when you are caught lying, you lose credibility. There used to be a thing called shame and credit (or discredit).
Bush and the Republicans have shown that these things don't count. It is quite alright to blatantly lie, get caught, and just keep lying. There is no shame. Officials (like Libby, Oliver North, etc) would be caught lying, and would have to bow out of public life shamed and discredited.
That doesn't happen anymore with this Administration. Used to be an 18 minute gap was a big problem; now, 5 million missing emails is not a problem.
March 14, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well said!
March 14, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
High Crimes & Misdemeanors anyone???
May we PLEASE Impeach him now?
March 14, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
"When the OMB's Susan E. Dudley urged the EPA to consider the effects of cutting ozone further on "economic values and on personal comfort and well-being,"
Was she aware that painting watch dials with radium had few beneficial effects to public tongues? Or that asbestos in shingles and insolation had beneficial effects on public lungs or that Thalidamide had....but I digress.
March 14, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is what we are fighting for.
This is what America has become.
A banana republic.
March 14, 2008 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am past blaming George W. Bush. He is a given. Posters on this board need to expand the blame out to belittle and corner the rest of the Republican party, who still support President Debacle Bush.
It is time to hammer on the real culprits: The Republican Voter. They are the enduring problem and should be chided and derided on their insane support of their president and his new pony boy, John McCain.
Barack Obama is not going to be able to go negative campaign for the White House, because then he will be seen as an angry black man.
It is up to us, the bloggers and commenters of the left, who are going to have to get salty.
Is it worth going all "Rush Limbaugh" with your ideas and comments to save what is left of your rights?
Do you have it in you to make emotional, brazen arguments against Republicans? This time, the foot soldiers of the Democratic party need to think low, then go lower. John McCain did sleep with a lobbyist he rewarded with a sweet little deal. John McCain is in the pocket of the Europeans. John McCain personally led legislation that led to the savings and loan scandal of the late eighties. John McCain graduated last in his class at Annapolis.
All are wrong, but have a kernel of truth in them that will make any republican you debate with off balance, defending the indefensible, and therefore strengthening your argument, even if it wrong.
That is the trick the republicans have used time and again. Now, it is your turn.
March 14, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok that does sounds pretty fun.
March 14, 2008 11:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Busdrivermike, although I do not agree with arguing with republicans by cherry-picking date, I agree with your premise that it is hight time that all of us in all the corners of the land make themselves pro-active at exposing the intolerance, anti-intellectual and pro-greed model supported by the Neo-cons and many in the Bush Administration. I know I talk about it all the time with friends and family while we all happen to live in a Red state. I read articles which support counter-arguements to the cherry-picked data that has been used against the Dem's, the left, and the environmental groups who truly care about a self-sustainable future. As a strategy I would have to believe that there are as many uninformed voters in the Dem block as there are in the Rep block, the cheif difference is that the Rep's use their ignorance within their party to incite extreme reactions towards subject matter which they know little about. I think your strategy is a good one, although it is only one of the ways that we can fight the blowback of the neo-cons and the uninformed anti-tolerant behavior that has led us to this impass. Keep plugging away and I hope that you find a little comfort in uncertain times that many of us agree that we need to be taking a more active role in the public discourse!
March 14, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to defend Bush because what he did was wrong but the "unaminous recommendation" descriptions used to justify the lower numbers don't tell the whole story. The excess deaths are a statistical artifact. Ozone levels have gone down over the last 20 years but the health impacts have not gone done commiserate with the decreases so it is hard to justify further decreases leading to the predicted improvements in public health.
The fact is we cannot meet the existing standard now and the regulators have flogged evil industry and all the cheap reductions for just about everything they can do. The regulators are in a quandry because the solution is to limit automobile use. Are you ready to stop driving? They don't think so and neither do I.
March 14, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's needed is a law that mandates the air and water quality in the Whitehouse and the EPA director's office. Namely:
"the levels of all pollutants should be at the maximum level allowed by law. "
and hopefully that will result in a change of attitude from 'what can we get away with?' to 'Oh god, how can anyone live in this shit?'.
Yeah, an impractical dream. But imagine the spit-take when Cheney finds out what's in his water glass...
March 14, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not worth getting upset any more. Nothing will come of this. He'll get away with it. No on will be held to account.
The courts have had 7 years to demonstrate that they don't like it when the Admin ignores them, but they roll over just like Congress.
Why even feign outrage?
March 14, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
busdrivermike you are completely right! there has to be an effort at this point to fight fire with fire and wipe the Republicans off the map for a generation. Anyone who does not understand that the future of the world now depends on getting right wing America away from any power in this nation is a fool. The simple truth does not work anymore against clever lies. Think Fox News. Balance is a myth. There is no liberal news outlet that relentlessly lies in favor of universal health care and the environment ....... but there should be one that shows pictures of sick and dying children next to pictures of your Republican congressman and McCain with the captions Murderers and Victims. No nuance necessary at this point. Like Iraq .... how many tragic deaths do you swallow before you are outraged enough???? Quit being nice. Quit trying to be fair. GET ANGRY!
March 14, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is what happens when Bush is given a free pass by the Congress to do what he wants without consequences. His presidency reflects his and his party's continual lack of interest in governing on behalf of all Americans. Bush's legacy? How about this Congress' legacy? Disgraceful.
We can expect much more of this blatant politicization of the Executive Branch until January, 2009. What a mess the next president is going to inherit.
March 14, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think the Republican voter can be entirely to blame. They get their own set of facts. I know I don't search out the conservative blogs for information damning to the dems, and I'm sure they (a)don't do the same looking for bad press on repubs, and (b) never hear these kinds of stories on Fox News.
I go back and forth between blaming the DNC and blaming the mega-rich dem donors. This story is of the type that is so easy to portray, spin, and get out into the public, that I frankly can't believe that liberals are the only ones who will know about it. But that's where we are. Our side doesn't have an organization willing to throw money at the problem, willing to really get the word out to the country about how "fucked" certain things are.
It's not up to the voters on the other side...they have people pulling the wool over their eyes. It has to be up to our side. It can't be a one-off, Al Gore movie type of event...if we really want a bigger majority of the public to know just how bad this administration is, there should be commercials and press releases all over the media.
March 14, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
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March 15, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
And as we all know, for this administration, "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence". Taking a cue from a previous post, this kind of decision needs to be hung firmly around John McCain's neck.
March 15, 2008 8:15 PM | Reply | Permalink