Today the EPA issued a preliminary document explaining how it was going to comply with a Supreme Court decision telling it that the Clean Air Act did authorize the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases; it would request public comment. Its administrator felt compelled to say (pdf):
I believe the ANPR demonstrates the Clean Air Act, an outdated law originally enacted to control regional pollutants that cause direct health effects, is ill-suited for the task of regulating global greenhouse gases.
So he's essentially saying the Supreme Court is wrong and he won't comply. Never mind that the Court is the ultimate arbiter of what's legal and what's not; he and the White House think its ruling shouldn't apply to them.
What agencies complained?
The White House Office of Management and Budget, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Transportation, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Energy.
Hmm. Anyone see a pattern there? Every agency which might have to regulate or limit greenhouse gas emissions basically is behaving like a three-year-old in a tantrum. "Don't wanna! You can't make me!"
Six more months and a thorough housecleaning can begin.
Posted by Linkmeister at July 11, 2008 01:44 PM | TrackBack