White House Nixed California's Tougher Air Quality Standards

The Environmental Protection Agency told the Bush administration that by law California should be able to set air-quality standards that were tougher than federal law, but President Bush rejected the advice and made clear that he wanted a single national standard, a former EPA official said Tuesday.

The testimony from whistleblower Jason Burnett came as the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee's chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is investigating what she charges is an effort by the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's office to cover up the threat from global warming.

Burnett told the committee that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson went to the White House last year with a plan to grant California a waiver that would allow it to set tougher standards, at least for several years. Bush made it clear that he preferred a single national standard, Burnett said, and in the end Johnson denied California's request

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Comments

[NoSillyName]

A "single national standard"? WTF! The same for North Dakota or Wyoming as for heavily populated California? How stupid is that? Oh, I forgot.

[KillTheMessenger]

It will all change comes 2009. No big deal.

[Sundialsvc4]

Das Fuhrer has spoken!

"Just because he says he can," and just because a crooked judge "says he can" put any of his political enemies in the gulag at will, the actual law-of-the-land is made "with a stroke of His Majesty's Pen."

Right?

Maybe you should stop and read the actual TEXT of the Declaration of Independence.

Human society is always fighting against itself. There are those who believe that it is simply their right to get as much money for themselves any way that they can, and those people invariably get enough "filthy lucre" to silence any politician who happens to be nearby.

But what do you actually get? You get Beijing.

"They need respirators in order to breathe? Cool! Sell 'em respirators!"

As they say, "the most important thing about money is that I've got it and you don't." But every human animal, in the eyes of nature, is the same.

[mamacat]

Big money lobbyists don't want California to make tighter rules, so Bush blocked them. What else is new?

[darthdarcy]

Yes I saw the hearings today with Barbara Boxer she was great and the testimony was mostly damaging for this corrupt administration...

[Quaoar]

So much for Republicans supporting States' rights.

[InfoGiant]

The only thing Bush supports is Big Oil and his war stocks.

http://infogiant.wordpress.com/?s=bush+%2Bmccain