EPA Ex-Official Rips Obama On Environment; Says WH is 'Where Tough Regulations Go To Die'

[wtmusic]

"The Senate will hold a confirmation hearing next week for Gina McCarthy, President Obama's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency in his second term. McCarthy, who is currently the assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, is expected to face some grilling from Senate Republicans who haven't been big fans of regulations, particularly when it comes to greenhouse gas rules. But the Senate might not be the biggest obstacle to strong new rules.

In a stinging critique at the Yale Journal on Regulation, one of the EPA's former top officials on climate change argues that the Obama White House has been the biggest impediment to tough regulations. Lisa Heinzerling served as the senior climate policy counsel at the EPA from January to July 2009 and as the associate administrator of the Office of Policy from July 2009 to December 2010. Heinzerling brought serious climate chops to the EPA; before joining the administration, she was one of the lead authors in the plaintiffs' briefs in Massachusetts v. EPA, the settled court case in which the US Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. She has since returned to her job as a law professor at Georgetown University.

Her piece points to the White House Office of Management of Budget —and its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in particular—as the place where tough regulations go to die. We've documented a number of proposed environmental rules have been sent to OMB for consideration and never again seen the light of day. Heinzerling points to several others that have been under "review" for years, including a list of "chemicals of concern" and rules about workplace exposure to harmful crystalline silica dust. In other cases, like new Food and Drug Administration rules on food safety, the rules were sent back from OMB significantly weakened."

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/former-epa-climate-adviser-rips-obama-admins-regulatory-approach

[enough]

1. A relative of mine who works in an environmental area

of the federal government has described the very same thing. Extremely disappointing because this person and colleagues were expecting a major change with the new administration. The apparent change lasted about six months of the first term and then the reality became very clear and very demoralizing. Business as usual. It has been depressing to hear the stories.

[wtmusic]

2. Thanks for that.

Always good to hear the personal anecdotes as confirmation.