Bush 'Intervened At The 11th Hour' To Kill Stronger Climate Protections

Think Progress:

Yesterday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson decided to modestly tighten smog standards, a decision directly "overruling the unanimous advice of its scientific advisory council for a more protective standard."

According to the LA Times, President Bush personally intervened to overrule EPA staff who were pushing to protect forests and crops:

Read the whole story: Think Progress

Comments

[dr4Will]

Instead of playing cheerleader for obama the media should keep their eye on this madman!

[NeverRepublican]

WHY DOES ANYONE VOTE REPUBLICAN? The world may never know. I just hope that the world doesn't view the American voting public as stupid as Bush or the re-dip-licans.

SOME OF US HAVE NEVER VOTED RE-DIP-LICAN.

Thanks for everything­...re-dork­-licans...­and a special thanks to those bible-beat'n family value voters who helped make this aaaaalllllllll happen.

Again...yo­u should be so proud. Not.

[Counterglow]

I'm entirely unsurprised. Why would Bush do the right thing even once, and ruin a perfect record?

[Toonadude]

How’s the smog situation in Paraguay?

[Birdman]

In case you have not been playing attention before any other country does anything one country should at least be an exmaple, and why not us, you may ask why. Well we have the technology, the smarts, and the know how, we used to have th emoney too it GW seen that we are broke. But we also have people that adore big business, and the polution they create. These same people love Bush no matter how much damage he has done to this wonderful country. We should be a world leader in everything, technology, standard of living clean air. I feel we should be better then any other country, don't you agree we are great? SO why not be a leader in reducing polution? Of course we had Bush around who has lowered our standard to the point where we are only world leaders in one thing morons.

[joebaggadonuts]

Executive agencies are carrying out Legislative mandates..­.. or they are supposed to. The intervention of the Chief Executive to disobey the law is an impeachable offense. Let's get it started. NOW.

[BOfever]

You don't seriously want to let the EPA make whatever mandates they want do you?

[joebaggadonuts]

Food is the new Gold. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/us/13salmon.html?em&ex=1205553600&en=9098fc42095dc8b8&ei=5087%0A

Eat much? Let's let the agencies cozy up to the legally protected immortal corporate entities who run things instead of letting them do what is good for the people, right? IS that what YOU want BOfever?

Yes, I think they (Agencies such as the EPA) should do their jobs. We passed environmental laws to protect us from environmental crimes and environmental criminals. That was back before we lost our collective national mind. I would like to start to let these rules of the road take effect. Once we painted a yellow line across which corporate greed could not cross. George Bush is painting that line the color of the road. Like it? I don't.

[shockmagog]

It's kind of late in the day to get all picky, don't ya think?

Or do you?

Ever?

[darker]

Bad, bad, Georgie boy. Bush-boy kills everything he touches, and that's EVERYTHING.
Thanks--NOT--for voting in this s.o.b. and his attack dog Cheney TWICE.

[GoodwithWood]

He don’t need no stinking science guys, he’s got da Bible.

[joebaggadonuts]

He may have read it but it's never bothered him any more than the Constitution when what it says got in his way.

[gonavy]

These environmental protections are a big reason we are so dependent on forgein oil. They prevent us from using our own resources. Makes no sense at all.

[joebaggadonuts]

Because we waste oil we are dependent on foreign sources. We waste oil by not being careful in our overuse of it. Because our tax policy disincents intelligent use of oil, we are in this pickle. Because we start wars to keep oil prices high to provide the money to keep the best government the oil lobby wants to pay for in office, well, you get the picture.

You hasta have been joking, gonavy, right?

[LITU]

gonavy, like the rest of his ilk, is a Pentagon propaganda sycophant, bought and paid for with our hard-earned tax dollars. And if I'm wrong about him, then I'm REALLY depressed, because he represents the 50% of unedumacated bastards in this country, consuming our oxygen.

[chirps]

It will make sense when you can no longer breath the air or drink the water .

[andyboy]

Yes goavy there is a big shortage of Oil in the world. That's why it's so hard to find gasoline.

I wonder where I'll get my next fill-up? Oh if only we could drill every square inch of land!

[andyboy]

gonavy,

Gotta love that environmental protections make no sense at all argument. Visionary. Forward looking and damn practical!

You know what else makes no sense? Electric cars. Much too clean and environmentally friendly!

[WillPower]

Where does the electricity for electric cars come from? Magic? No, it's mostly coal and natural gas power plants. Electric cars pollute a lot, you just see it near the power plant, not on the roads. Open nuclear plants and I'm with you, but you're probably against that.

[mamacat]

If we cared about environmental protections, we never would have become dependent on oil, foreign or domestic, for mass transit.

In the first half of the twentieth century, Standard Oil (Exxon-Mobil, Chevron) and General Motors got together and bought up every light rail mass transit system in the U.S. that money could buy. They then ran them into the ground, before finally closing down over 50 mass transit systems. Southern California sold its light rail system to the conglomerate. Before selling, Southern California had the largest (most miles) light rail system in the world, with the most passengers in the world.

Today, thanks to the conscious efforts of Standard Oil and General Motors, Southern California has some of the worst air quality in the United States.

However, on the upside, Exxon and Chevron spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on advertising telling us that they are working very hard to develop alternatives to oil. At least the advertising agencies are making a profit from the bad air quality and inefficient freeway system.

[Forester]

Remember, my fellow Americans,
This man was RE-ELECTED to be our president, just like Nixon was. The average patriotic boob deserves this mess, and it's just tough luck for any of us who still really care about this country. I think our choices in presidents are in fact IQ tests that we continue to fail.

And for those who continue to whine about stolen elections - you would probably blame Billy Buckner for losing the 1986 World Series - it should not have been so close in the first place. Now watch Hillary and Bubba pull the same crap with the FLA and MI delegates. Same crap, different party. A sad fate for such a promising idea for a county.

Some day a real rain will come, and wash all this scum off the streets...

[truthyguy]

Of course he intervened. That was what his GOP handlers told him the corporate interests wanted.

[Jeffin90019]

Of course he intervened. His master bosses at the oil companies don't want tighter restirctions because it might cost them some of their ginormous profits. This obscene little troll king will do nothing for the world if it doesn't carry out the whim on his master. Capture the war criminal and hild trials for him and his henchmen. It's the only way to regain American honor.

[BOfever]

If you think that those restrictions would hurt their profits you obviously have no clue about business or how it works. Those extra costs would be passed right down the line to you the consumer.

Do you want to pay more taxes when it is already hard enough as it is?

[shockmagog]

It's kind of late in the day to be all picky about where your money's going.

[fact finder]

Does any one remember the movie with Charlie Sheen where the aliens wanted to Terraform the earth.? That would explain why Bush is doing nothing to stop the destruction of our planet.. Bush is an alien or stupid take your choice, Maybe both.?

[Kundera]

brilliant.

[Contentt]

Why is this news? Everyone who voted for Bush should have known this was the way it would be. I’m only surprised people are still surprised.

Is there a list somewhere that shows all the laws that need to be changed and all the Bush appointed Govt employees that need to be fired immediately when this ahole leaves office? Assuming a Dem is the next one in the White house.

[ConnectTheDots]

He must *really* hate his kids.

[robotfog]

We already know to not expect bush to have a shred of decency so this isn't surprising. To bad we couldn't shove his face in garbage. Well, I guess we could, but that would be insulting to the garbage. The man is just a terrible person.