As predicted, EPA chief Stephen Johnson has caved in to industry pressure, introducing new smog standards that are barely tougher than the existing rules. Adding insult to injury, he's now asking Congress to overhaul the Clean Air Act and formalize his cosy relationship with corporate America. I've responded over at Political Climate:
At present, the law says that in regulating the air we breathe, the EPA’s sole priority must be protecting the public health. Only after reasonable safety standards are set can factors like economic impact be taken into consideration. Now, though, Johnson is asking lawmakers to scrap those safeguards and grant him the explicit right to prioritize corporate interests above the public health.In practice, that might not make much difference to the way the EPA handles its regulatory deliberations. It’s abundantly clear that in arriving at the current smog “compromise” Johnson illegally weighed the impact on industry against the potential health benefits, receiving plenty of friendly advice from industry lobbyists and even direct orders from President Bush not to clamp down too hard on Big Business.
Still, swapping lobbyists’ de facto influence for a de jure corporate veto on environmental regulations would be disastrous. The threat of legal action has consistently been the only way to cajole or coerce the EPA into carrying out its mandate; giving Johnson’s agency the legal right to pander to corporate interests would undermine one of the few defenses we have left.
Read more here.
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