MARKEY: Instead of Being ‘Caretakers’, Bush Admin. Taking Care of Polluters Wishes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081
MARKEY: Instead of Being ‘Caretakers’, Bush Admin. Taking Care of Polluters Wishes
Newest Midnight Global Warming Memo Another Black Mark on Bush Legacy
WASHINGTON (December 19, 2008) – Late yesterday EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson circumvented his own agency’s -- and the public’s -- review process and ruled that EPA does not need to consider global warming pollution when issuing permits for new coal-fired power plants. This potentially illegal action follows a long pattern of obstructionism on global warming from the Bush administration’s EPA, and is yet another last minute midnight rulemaking from the administration that will force an incoming Obama administration and new Congress to divert energy away from addressing serious challenges to instead reversing blatant industry giveaways.
“Instead of being caretakers for the next administration and the planet, President Bush and the EPA are making sure that polluters are getting their needs taken care of before January 20,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “This new, illegal ruling, along with many other midnight rulemakings, continues a stunning pattern of disregard for the law, the planet, and for the change Americans say they want in our energy and environmental policies.”
This new memo continues a disturbing trend in the Bush administration to block any real action on global warming, and could allow the progress of dozens of coal-fired power plants that do not capture heat-trapping pollution. Chairman Markey has authored legislation that would prevent the construction of new coal-fired power plants that do not use carbon capture and sequestration technology.
Chairman Markey has conducted vigorous oversight over the Bush administration’s EPA, including a Select Committee investigation that found that members of government at the highest levels, including the office of President George W. Bush’s Chief of Staff and numerous heads of Cabinet departments, had decided to use the Clean Air Act to regulate global warming emissions from power plants, but reversed their decision.
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