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Washington, D.C. – A story in today’s Washington Post revealed that President Bush directly intervened in the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision making process in developing new smog standards. The newly-released smog standard is less restrictive than the one originally proposed by the EPA’s scientific advisers.
Today’s revelation marks the second time that a politically-motivated decision has trumped science at the Agency in recent months. It comes on the heels of EPA Administrator Johnson’s refusal to grant California permission to implement its landmark vehicle emissions law despite support from scientific, legal and technical staff at the Agency.
In response, Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) sent the following letter to Administrator Johnson.
March 14, 2008
Administrator Stephen Johnson
Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Johnson:
I am writing to you to express my significant disappointment with your decision to establish a weak ozone standard, ignoring expert health recommendations from your own scientific advisors. This decision is the latest example of your Agency’s practice of executing politically motivated decisions that harm the public good.
I represent a portion of California’s San Joaquin Valley, an area that unfortunately has some of the nation’s worst air quality. The health effects caused by poor environmental conditions are severe, and I have seen the consequences firsthand. As a result of this pollution, Valley residents, particularly children, suffer from high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The health effects of poor air quality on our nation’s youth are so severe that California adopted a stricter ozone standard than the one you selected.
I am deeply troubled by widespread and credible reports that the EPA ignored the expert recommendations of its own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee because of political pressure from the White House. Clean air decisions must be made in the interest of public health and be based on scientific evidence, not political expediency. In your remaining months as EPA Administrator, I hope that you will use every tool at your disposal to help communities improve the quality of their air.
Thank you for your attention to this letter, and I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Jerry McNerney
Member of Congress
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