The fact that the U.S. EPA refused to grant California a waiver so we can initiate our own air emissions standards is really no surprise to anyone who has watched this administration ignore science, our legal system, common sense and the Constitution. Whether waterboarding, abstinence only education, refusing to fund “No Child Left Behind”, illegally issuing wire taps without court order, or refusing to honor validly issued subpoena from Congress (to name only a very few of this administration’s scofflaw attitude), it is the audacity and mendacity that is so astonishing. It makes one wonder whether the right-wing extremist P.R. firms have a class in how to lie with a straight face, perhaps calling it something like “How stupid do we think the American people really are?”
The chutzpah is endless—with the President today in his own press conference exemplifying it with astonishing ease. But the lack of embarassment or apology is what really takes the cake. And when EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson claimed that the reason for the waiver denials is that and I quote here: “The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution, not a confusing patchwork of state rules.” , that really takes the cake.
A clear national solution??? Nothing clear about said solution. Nothing national about it. And in fact, no solution identified either. Besides which, Bush doesn’t even believe in global warming. Is it a “national solution” of denial or just plain old deception that this administration is trying to foist on a not-so-unsuspecting public?
So let’s look for a moment at what this mind-numbing pronouncement looks like:
Mr. Johnson claims that the proposed California rules are pre-empted by federal authority.
This is false:
California is the only state in the country that has the right to set its own air emissions standards because of the unique air quality problems in the state. It has been the law for 40 years that waivers by the EPA can (and are) granted for California to increase its regulations and impose its own more stringent pollution rules. During the past 40 years, both Republican and Democratic administrations have granted this state over 50 such waivers. This was the first time such a waiver request has ever been denied, (according to today’s article in the NYTimes).
Heavens, even Senator Dianne Feinstein was offended, claiming that this prevarication was “disgraceful.” Indeed, she goes on to say, “The passage of the energy bill does not give the E.P.A. a green light to shirk its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people from air pollution.” Connecticut attorney general Richard Bluementhal goes even further calling the ruling a ” mockery of law and sound public policy”. But the real question is: When has this administration cared about either?
So we will go to court, and thank goodness we still have a judicial system left as a check against an administration that has run amuck of our country’s laws, its honor and its dignity. We will win this battle in court, but perhaps not until after this ruinous administration is long gone. In the meantime, the auto industry is clucking like a bunch of hens….they’re still in control. In fact, it has become apparent that the E.P.A. decision comes as a quid-pro-quo, according to industry and environmental groups. This pay-back was in exchange for the auto industry dropping its opposition to the energy legislation just signed into law hours before the no-waiver announcement was made. But did we ever doubt that these major industries, and Bush’s biggest financial backers, would be anywhere but the drivers-seat in all this? Lest we be so foolish, remember we still don’t have any information on Cheney’s cabal that created the energy policy of this country back in the early days of the Bush administration.
So here we are at the holiday season. Instead of caroling and spending, we are forced to endure the indignity of our state’s effort to do its share to address global warming being used as a pawn in this administration’s efforts to turn a blind-eye to the significant planetary threat of global warming. We are forced to watch a group of puppets mock us with disinformation and down-right lies.
I’ve had enough—I’m going to do what every good American should do when we go to war, or times get tough-
I”M GOING SHOPPING!
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