Whatever one thinks of Lisa Jackson’s appointment as Barack Obama’s top Environmental Protection Agency officer, there is no doubt she will be an improvement over the current lame-duck chief.
Stephen L. Johnson, the current EPA administrator, is not exactly a friend of the environment — and he seeks to prove it on a regular basis.
Consider his ruling last week that prevents “Officials weighing federal applications by utilities to build new coal-fired power plants” from “consider(ing) their greenhouse gas output.”
Johnson, who touted his own accomplishments as the agency’s administrator after Jackon’s appointment was announced, says that “carbon dioxide is not a pollutant to be regulated when approving power plants,” saying that “each year, about 275 new sources of pollution, from power plants to apartment buildings, must obtain permits saying that they will not significantly decrease air quality.” Current regulations create confusion, he says, and
“the best path forward is to establish a clear interpretation” of what can be considered a pollutant to be regulated.
“The current concerns over global climate change should not drive E.P.A. into adopting an unworkable policy of requiring emission controls” in these cases, he said.
The memorandum overturned a ruling made last month by the Environmental Appeals Board that backed environmentalists who said that, “because carbon dioxide must already be monitored under federal laws, that monitoring is tantamount to regulation” and “its impact must be considered before new plants are approved.”
Environmentalists were outraged at Johnson’s decision.
John Walke, a lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement, “It’s a marvel to behold an E.P.A. action that so utterly disdains global warming responsibility and disdains the law at the same time.”
The Environmental Defense Fund is extimating that “as much as 8,000 megawatts of new coal-fired power plants could win swifter approval as a result of the ruling.”
Consider the ruling a parting gift from Stephen L. Johnson and president George W. Bush to the utility industry that ll of us will pay for with dirtier air and potentially higher healthcare costs.
Hank Kalet 