Friday, March 11, 2005
How Soon We Forget
Apparently the LA Times is suffering from some rare form of journalistic amnesia. They're giving the Bush administration credit for something they don't deserve.
What the paper is referring to is the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). It was proposed in January, 2004. However, anyone who watched the second Bush/Kerry debate knows that this is not the environmental policy that Georgieboy was endorsing. In fact, the CAIR was put on the back burner in favor of the Clear Skies Initiative that was introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).
The Clear Skies Initiative actually called for the loosening of regulations that were set forth by the Clean Air Act. It weakened restrictions on the production of mercury from coal-fired power plants by 520%. It relaxed the cap on the production of nitrogen oxide, a major contributor to smog associated with asthma and lung disease, by 68%. It weakened protection against the production of sulphur dioxide, a contributing factor to acid rain, by 225%. And it failed to place any limits on the production of carbon dioxide.
So while the CAIR is actually a pretty good thing, I can't give any credit to the Bush administration. Had the Democrats not successfully killed the Clear Skies Initiative in committee on Wednesday thereby leaving the Bush administration no alternative, the CAIR may have never been enacted.
- The Bush administration moved Thursday to sharply reduce air pollution from power plants that emit nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, issuing a rule that the Environmental Protection Agency said would eventually prevent 17,000 premature deaths and tens of thousands of heart attacks and hospitalizations each year, mostly in the Northeast.
What the paper is referring to is the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). It was proposed in January, 2004. However, anyone who watched the second Bush/Kerry debate knows that this is not the environmental policy that Georgieboy was endorsing. In fact, the CAIR was put on the back burner in favor of the Clear Skies Initiative that was introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).
The Clear Skies Initiative actually called for the loosening of regulations that were set forth by the Clean Air Act. It weakened restrictions on the production of mercury from coal-fired power plants by 520%. It relaxed the cap on the production of nitrogen oxide, a major contributor to smog associated with asthma and lung disease, by 68%. It weakened protection against the production of sulphur dioxide, a contributing factor to acid rain, by 225%. And it failed to place any limits on the production of carbon dioxide.
So while the CAIR is actually a pretty good thing, I can't give any credit to the Bush administration. Had the Democrats not successfully killed the Clear Skies Initiative in committee on Wednesday thereby leaving the Bush administration no alternative, the CAIR may have never been enacted.
