President Barack Obama has bowed to the demands of U.S. manufacturers and asked the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw the draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards.It has happened yet again: The president has backed away from another campaign promise! He had vowed to be the "environmental president," but it hasn't turned out that way.
0n January 6, 2010, the EPA proposed to strengthen the national air quality standards for ground-level ozone. EPA proposed a range of 60-70 parts per billion (ppb), a much lower level than the current standard of 75 ppb.
~ from Industry Victory: Obama Withdraws EPA's Stricter Smog Standards by ENN ~
It is bad enough that he pushed back a decision on smog standards to 2013 at the earliest, but as Joseph Romm stated this evening on Countdown with Keith Olbermann (I'll post the video when it becomes available), the situation is even worse that it first appears.
Several environmental groups had filed suit against the Bush era EPA in regards to their ruling on air quality standards and Obama convinced them to drop their suits because his administration would fix the problem. Now that he's decided to punt the football, there is no recourse!
Many are calling the president's decision another example of Obama's timidity in the face of conservative opposition. That explanation doesn't fly with me. I think the more reasonable analysis is that he doesn't want to lose campaign contributions from the constituency that matters most to him -- Corporate America!
He's willing to compromise the health of the American public so as not to impact the bottom lines of the corporate "persons" who truly run this country.
I like your constantly reminding people that governments and voted leaders are not rulers. Very good.
ReplyDeleteWe are the rulers, we just don't know it and so we cede the authority to corporate thugs.
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