Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger of the Journal Sentinel report that the Business Protection Agency routinely has allowed companies to keep secret new information about their chemicals, “including compounds that have been shown to cause cancer and respiratory problems, …despite a federal law calling for public notice of any new information through the EPA’s program monitoring chemicals that pose substantial risk.”
EPA Director Johnson with President Bush
This “heads up” on more BAU (Business As Usual And Above All Else) comes after another recent observation on how FlightSuit Boy remains loyal to his back room campaign promises despite any environmental devastation they could wreak. By a recent EPA ruling that could allow 8,000MW of new coal-fired power plants, Georgie remains loyal to “his people,” while exhibiting disdain for life as we know it on the planet.
“Instead of decommissioning America’s fleet of coal-fired power plants and making concerted efforts to prevent the construction of any new ones,” laments Timothy B. Hurst, “the United States Government is finding ways to make sure plenty more can be built.”
In a memo issued by EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson on Thursday, the Bush administration has “clarified” a rule prohibiting any federal agency from denying an operating permit to new or significantly remodeled power plants based on their carbon dioxide emissions.
You might say that this is the EPA, which is part of the Bodman Department of Energy. Well,certainly a defense that Bush’s sycophant scientist, Steven Johnson, could use was he simply was following orders from the WPE (Worst President, Evah!)
The next director, New Orleans native Lisa Jackson, will have her hands full, trying to undo the damage that has been wrought, in terms of EPA policy, procedures and personnel from the Cheney regime, and in terms of the despair of those, whose values were corrupted during those times, yet who remained on board.
…Meanwhile, HuffPo has a totally unwatchable video for you.
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O.K., here’s an antidote. It may or may not be enough, given your previous exposure to such a hazardous substance.
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Speaking of undermining health, Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, informs us that “the Department of Health and Human Services issued a last minute regulation that will undermine health care access at nearly 600,000 pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals across the country.”
They took such action “despite the written opposition from more than 200,000 Americans, 150 members of Congress, a bipartisan coalition of governors and attorneys general, the American Medical Association, and women’s health organizations like Planned Parenthood.”
Gristmill reports that Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) is petitioning Attorney General Michael Mukasey to stop “renegade” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson’s recent decision on coal-fired power plants. Johnson decreed last week that power plants’ greenhouse-gas emissions shouldn’t be taken into consideration when determining whether to approve their construction, countering the EPA Appeals Board ruling in the Bonanza case.
“This illegal document issued by Stephen Johnson makes it clear that he has become a renegade Administrator,” wrote Senator Boxer, who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “He defies the clear language of our environmental laws and acts without legal authority.”
The Romm-a-long-a-ding-dong, he say, “WHAT? You asking DoJ, the Department that signed off on torture. What’s a few coal plants to them?”
From NY Times via ABG:
According to the NY Times, Lisa P. Jackson, chosen to head the Environmental Protection Agency, said at her confirmation hearing that her first task would be to restore scientific and legal integrity to the agency. Excellent question for the nation, once some essential and distinguishing attributes of our national character is lost, how do we restore it?
As the frat boy ships out, his toothiness, the Big Gav, has a look at Bush’s sorry legacy.
Forget confusing power with greatness, how about confusing power with sanity?
“Even fewer will mourn the departure of Dick Cheney,” notes the Big Gav, “with the lord of darkness recording a final 13% approval rating.” Unfortunately, some of this “get thee behind me” blogging seems so much wishful thinking. Congress just released the other $350 billion to their rapacious customers, a clear indication that the Evile Empire of Emperor Fossil persists.
Writing for the Wonk Room, Brad Johnson is one of those reporting on Lisa Jackson leading the calvary… too late. I think it is called working (within) the System.
Lisa P. Jackson, the head of the E.P.A., said the agency was “falling short of this administration’s expectations for the effectiveness of our clean water enforcement.”