Yesterday, Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a series of documents that reveal the White House’s involvement in the EPA’s decision to reject California’s request for a waiver of the Clean Air Act , so it could set it’s own greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars. Of particular interest was the testimony of former EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett who said that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson’s “preference for a full or partial grant of the waiver did not change until after he communicated with the White House.”
Burnett resigned from the EPA on May 6th, but is by no means an angel himself, which, in a way, gives him some credibility. During his tenure at the agency, Burnett was involved in trying to undo the arsenic standards for drinking water set in the final days of the Clinton administration, authored the industry-friendly mercury regulations that were rejected by a federal appeals court in 2008, and personally worked on the denial of California’s request for a waiver from the Clean Air Act.
According to the Committee website “EPA career staff unanimously supported granting California’s request for a waiver to enforce its greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson also supported granting the petition, at least in part, until he communicated with the White House.”
In fact, the EPA staff interviewed by the Committee were unable to identify any agency documents that argued in favor of denial prior to December 19, 2007, the day California’s petition was denied.
But wait, there’s more…
The Committee staff also uncovered evidence that the White House was directly involved in the EPA’s regulation of ozone. The documents showed that “on the eve of a court imposed deadline, forcing EPA staff to scrap a standard supported by its independent panel and to perform “emergency rewrites” to the regulation. Documents obtained by the Committee show that EPA staff raised serious concerns about the merits and legality of the decision.”
The committee is holding a hearing on the issue today. Look for fallout tomorrow.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Is not the President the one who is responsible for that branch of government? If the President took no interest in such issues would this be a good thing? It is clear that the objection is only because the President is taking a stand to prevent over reactions by unelected staffers. The idea that these people or the so called independent panels do not have a political agenda is ridiculous.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
[...] month I wrote about the White House’s apparent involvement in the denial of California’s request for [...]
June 24th, 2008 at 7:08 am
[...] month I wrote about the White House’s apparent involvement in the denial of California’s request for exemption from [...]
January 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
WHO CARES? The White House - the PRESIDENT - has every right to steer policy, not the unelected staff bureaucrats who have already made it clear that they’d rather stab this man in the back instead of serve the agenda the American people twice voted for at the polls. Clean out the bureaucracy and our government will work again.