Did the White House double-cross its supporters on the smog rule?

[highplainsdem]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/did-the-white-house-double-cross-enviros-on-the-smog-rule/2011/09/02/gIQAWnZ7wJ_blog.html

Posted at 02:19 PM ET, 09/02/2011
Did the White House double-cross its supporters on the smog rule?
By Brad Plumer


Get ready to hear a lot about ozone in the coming weeks. On Friday, in a surprise move, the White House told the EPA to pull back on national standards for ground-level ozone pollution — smog — which the agency has been working on for the past two years. My colleague Juliet Eilperin has the full story, but the upshot is that this represents a clear victory for business groups and Republicans, who had been lobbying to postpone the regulations until a new scheduled review in 2013.

To add a bit to this, though, it’s worth taking a closer look at why environmentalists and clean-air advocates are so furious right now. Groups that have been lobbying for the long-delayed ozone update say they were essentially betrayed by the Obama administration, which, back in 2009, had fended off a lawsuit over Bush-era ozone rules by promising to issue tougher new standards. That, obviously, isn’t going to happen now. What’s more, critics note, the White House’s stated reasons for yanking the rules make no sense at all. Do they have a point?

-snip-

The last time new ozone standards were set was back in 1997 — at 84 parts per billion. In 2006, the EPA reviewed the science on ozone and health, which had advanced considerably over the years: It wasn’t until the 2000s, for instance, that researchers realized ground-level ozone might actually be killing people, not just causing respiratory problems. Realizing that the old standards were woefully out of date, EPA scientists recommended a new level of 60 to 70 parts per billion. The Bush administration, however, decided to go with a less-stringent level of 75 parts per billion in its final rules, issued in 2008.

Groups such as the American Lung Association quickly filed a lawsuit to stop the Bush rules, which they claimed were too weak and would lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths and cases of respiratory disease. After Obama got elected, however, the new EPA said it basically agreed with the critics and would issue stronger rules by August 2010. At that point, the ALA agreed to hold off on its lawsuit. “We said, that sounds reasonable to us,” says Paul Billings, the ALA’s vice-president for policy and advocacy. “We basically trusted their intentions.”

-snip-

The entire column is well worth reading.

Plumer concludes that "this move looks like it could leave a lasting rift between the White House and its environmental base."

[villager]

1. rhetorical question much?

;-)

[Harmony Blue]

2. As I pointed out in another thread

the Montreal Protocol was a resounding success. Why is the WH on the verge of turning its back on a progressive victory? Its like handing back an award you won for first place?

[highplainsdem]

8. I don't know why they're doing this. It makes no sense. It's just one more capitulation to

Republicans and corporations, and it gets them nothing but demands for more capitulations.

[Autumn]

3. Oh whats one more double cross between friends.

Who else you gonna vote for?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I do NOT understand the administration's stand on this.

Isn't public health important?

More important than corporate profits?

Maybe not.

Did the administration give ANY reason for this unwarranted pull-back?

Or was it just because of pressure from business groups and Republicans?

[highplainsdem]

7. I don't, either.

[roguevalley]

10. no, no, agreed, no, yes I'm sure. He has no spine. We must all

learn to live with the idea that his actions actually speak louder than his words.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Short answer, Yes. Longer answer, Yes..as usual.

[Mojambo]

6. A rift between the White House and it's environmental base...

According to some DUers that doesn't matter. Where the fuck else is that environmental base going to go?

They need to just suck it up and support our "Democratic" president.

[dgibby]

9. I have asthma.

Sure hope the air quality index is good on election day; otherwise, I'll just have to stay home. Did I mention I'm downwind and down river from a papermill?