Friday, July 02, 2004
Mix and match, part 18
This:
Ninety-nine million Americans are breathing unhealthful air that can cause respiratory problems and even premature death, according to assessments released yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency identified 243 counties that fail to meet national air standards for fine-particle pollution -- mainly soot -- in response to state submissions that designated 141 counties. Once the rulemaking process is complete, state and local officials will have to devise plans to reduce the pollution. States now have three months to respond before the agency issues a final rule in November.
EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said the announcement was "about getting our air cleaner and our standards getting tougher."
and this:
As on-target as EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt's demand sounds, it is seriously undercut by his own efforts and those of his boss, President Bush, to erode even existing protections.
That's especially true of the administration's decision to file a friend-of-the-court brief against an important anti-pollution initiative in Southern California, where some of the worst particulate pollution occurs. The U.S. Supreme Court in April struck down a regional air quality rule that would have required fleet owners to buy cleaner engines when they replaced their dirty diesel vehicles. The White House could and should have left engine makers to mount their own attack, giving the state a better chance of winning.
Bush also rejected the idea of environmental reviews before allowing dirtier Mexican diesel trucks to drive U.S. roads. That decision, backed by the high court in June, would disproportionately pollute Southern California. The administration extols its "Clear Skies" initiative, stalled in Congress, as a pollution cutter even though it would leave more soot and smog in the air than the Clean Air Act, which it would replace. Under Bush, the EPA has made it easier for coal plants — the major source of fine particulates in the East — to avoid installing state-of-the-art pollution equipment when they renovate.
posted by chris at 10:48 AM
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