Critics in White House (OMB) blast EPA greenhouse gas ruling

[samclem]

The OMB posted an internal review of the EPA's proposal to regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gases as pollutants. Among the comments by reviewers at various agencies:

"Making the decision to regulate carbon dioxide ... is likely to have serious economic consequences for regulated entities throughout the U.S. economy, including small businesses and small communities"
According to a Newsday article,

The memo says . . . . the EPA seemed to stretch the precautionary principle to support regulation despite the "unprecedented uncertainty" in linking emissions of greenhouse gases and the warming that will result to health effects.

"It really appears to me that the decision was based more on political calculations than on scientific ones," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who called the document "a smoking gun" during a hearing Tuesday on the Obama administration's proposed EPA budget.

"The counsel in this administration repeatedly questions the lack of scientific support that you have for this proposed finding," he said.

The head of OMB is in full defensive mode, saying that this memo was just a compilation of comments, and that OMB supports the EPA policy (of course [-]it[/-] he does).

NPR ran a short story on the "smoking gun" memo this afternoon.

Well, whatever else this report was, it apparently didn't have the approval of the head of OMB. I haven't been able to find a copy of the report on a government site, apparently the OMB decided that maybe this whole "open administration" thing might have gone too far and they have taken it down.

So, at least a hint that some in the White House recognize this is more about ideology than science.

But, that's not what was supposed to happen! . . .

Promoting science isn't just about providing resources -- it is also about protecting free and open inquiry. It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient -- especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda -- and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology.
-- President Barack Obama, Mar 12, 2009.

 

[Westernskies]

what a bunch of ht air...

 

[unclemick]

cigarettes are not addictive.

.

It was always fun when lawyers and accountants where telling me what 'good' engineering was.

heh heh heh - the beat goes on.

 

[alvarezg]

Instead of restricting CO2 emission, we could always tax O2 comsumtion...