Air That Kills

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/21/6050/


Published on Saturday, December 29, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
Air That Kills
by Christopher Brauchli
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows. . . .

A. E. Housman, To an athlete dying young

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Boy. With all the Environmental Protection Agency has been doing in the last few weeks it’s hard to believe its employees had time to enjoy Christmas or make plans for the new year-there was so much to do in the old.

Last week this space pointed out that during the holiday season in 2006 the E.P.A. made it easier for companies to secretly release toxins into the air thus permitting communities to avoid the concerns and fears that would otherwise almost certainly follow news of the release. The change in the rules governing disclosure of the release of such substances only gained notoriety during the 2007 Christmas season. That was not the only December 2006 policy change the fruits of which were plucked in December of 2007.

On December 7, 2006, Marcus Peacock, the Deputy Administrator of the E.P.A. announced a new approach to making decisions that was known as “policy-relevant science.” According to the Union of Concerned Scientists here is how “policy-relevant science works in practice. “igh-level political appointees are involved (in setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards) right from the start, working with staff scientists to create a document containing ‘policy-relevant science that ‘reflect the agency’s views’ instead of the independent scientific paper that staff scientists have put together in the past.” In December 2007 we saw the results of the new process. They permit us to enjoy the many benefits of carbon dioxide unhampered by rogue states that for reasons best known to themselves, seek to deprive us of those benefits.

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According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, an anonymous E.P.A. staffer said the staff at the E.P.A. believed the waiver should be granted. The staffer said: “California met every criteria. . . on the merits. The same criteria we have used for the last 40 years on all the other waivers. We told him that. All the briefings we have given him laid out the facts.” Unpersuaded by science, Mr. Johnson introduced policy into the equation and said California’s request did not “meet compelling and extraordinary conditions.” It was the first time that California had requested a waiver and been turned down. Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board said his decision showed “that this administration ignores the science and ignores the law to reach the politically convenient conclusion.” She was right. This was not Mr. Johnson’s first experience with ignoring good science in favor of making good policy.
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scammed, snookered, screwed again