No "Clear Skies" for us

As usual, the Bush administration chose the weekend as a grand time to issue an order that will inflict irreparable damage on the environment. By issuing such orders on the weekend, media coverage is kept to a minimum and we are kept in the dark.

This time, the Bushies told Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt (whom Bush just tapped to lead, ironically, Health and Human Services) to delay issuing the Clean Air Interstate Rule, a proposal to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide in 28 states that either fail to meet national air quality standards or produce pollution that ends up in other states. Leavitt had promised to issue the rules this month, with the goal of cutting nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide pollution by 70 percent sometime after 2015.

This is really bad news for those of us who like to breathe. Guess we'll have to come up with a new way to oxygenate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62025-2004Dec13.html