White House Ignored EPA Pollutants Email

President overruled EPA scientists on pollution guidelines

(NEWSER) - President Bush personally intervened this week to loosen the EPA's new guidelines on pollution-causing ozone, the Washington Post reports. By law, separate ozone standards are mandated for protecting the "public health" and the "public welfare," which includes wildlife, parks, and farmland. According to EPA documents, Bush overruled the more stringent guidelines recommended by both EPA scientists and administrators for the latter. More»

Decision flouts Supreme Court, top government officials

(NEWSER) - Regulation of greenhouse gas emissions will have to wait until President Bush is out of office, the EPA announced today. Instead, the agency will say it needs months of further public comment to make any decision. The statement is the end result of a protracted White House effort to tone down the agency’s findings, the Washington Post reports. More»

Justices likely to throw out case brought by states against power plants

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court looks like it will throw out a major environmental case against coal-fired power plants, reports the Los Angeles Times . The US solicitor general and several justices held that such matters fall under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency, and shouldn’t be decided by judges. The high court ruled 4 years ago that the EPA had the power to regulate greenhouse gases, but that didn’t stop six states from pushing the case, which called the plants’ pollution a “public nuisance.” More»

Transportation Department, EPA make new targets official

(AP) - The Obama administration is setting tough gas mileage standards for new cars and trucks, spurring the next generation of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines, and electric cars. The heads of the Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency will today sign final rules requiring 2016 model-year vehicles to meet fuel efficiency targets of 35.5 miles per gallon combined for cars and trucks, an increase of nearly 10mpg over current standards. More»

Bush put US on path to banana republic status

(NEWSER) - The 2000s were dominated by George W. Bush and the new American oligarchy he represents, writes Juan Cole. He lists hit 10 lowest points of an awful decade:

• “The constitutional coup of 2000,” in which “ugly racial and other low tricks” and a “far right-wing Supreme Court” delivered the election to the worst president in history.