EPA Whistleblower Aims at Cheney

A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official revealed specific instances of White House interference with the agency’s decision to regulate greenhouse gases and grant California’s vehicle emissions waiver request. The examples of meddling, which include those from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, were detailed in a July 6 letter by former EPA deputy administrator Jason Burnett to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). “Now, thanks to a very brave former EPA official,” Boxer stated July 8, “we know that the Administration’s efforts have been about covering up the real dangers of global warming and hiding the facts from the public.” In a growing chorus of tell all books, letters, and memos about President Bush’s administration, Burnett wrote this week that he received a call from the White House in response to the EPA circulating written findings last December that greenhouse gases may “endanger public health.” The unnamed official urged that the findings not be released and subsequently that the document be retracted. The Office of the Vice President and Council on Environmental Quality also exerted pressure to delete references to climate change impacts on human health, according to Burnett. The EPA developed a global warming regulation blueprint in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Massachusetts v. EPA. The agency, in that ruling, is required to regulate carbon unless it can prove that greenhouse gases do not harm people and the environment. Agency staff also urged EPA administrator Stephen Johnson to follow precedent and allow California and 14 other states to implement their laws to curb tailpipe emissions. However, a denial was issued subsequent to alleged calls from the Bush Administration. California’s law, which aims to cut tailpipe emissions by 30 percent by 2016, is seen as a key strategy for helping meet the state’s climate protection law, AB 32. Burnett recently resigned from his EPA post “having reached the conclusion that no more productive work responding to the Supreme Court could be accomplished under this administration.” In a related matter, a U.S. District Court recently denied carmakers call to revisit greenhouse gas law under the federal Clean Air Act to disallow tighter state standards. The June 23 decision from the Eastern District of California, Fresno, rebuffed the Central Valley Chrysler Jeep and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board and Sierra Club. In addition, federal legislation is pending that would require the EPA to grant California’s waiver request. S. 2555 by Boxer passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in late May. President Bush opposes Boxer’s bill, which now has 26 co-sponsors, and Republicans notified Boxer they would filibuster it. Thus, it will not be brought to the floor this session. However, other avenues are open for pursuing the state waiver, particularly under a new Administration. “We are moving forward on several fronts,” said a Democratic staffer. The Presidential candidates have all expressed support for state waivers to the Clean Air Act and Boxer filed an amicus brief in support of Califonia’s suit against the EPA for denying the waiver.

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EPA Whistleblower Aims at Cheney

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