Why is the Bush Administration tampering with the EPA and overruling their decisions on ozone?

Question

EPA officials initially tried to set a lower seasonal limit on ozone to protect wildlife, parks and farmland, as required under the law. While their proposal was less restrictive than what the EPA's scientific advisers had proposed, Bush overruled EPA officials and on Tuesday ordered the agency to increase the limit, according to the documents.

Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA's past submissions to the Supreme Court, according to sources familiar with the conversation. As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031304175_pf.html

First the Bush Administration censors climate science documents and now they're overruling EPA ozone limits. Anyone want to try and justify this action?

Answer 1

Cause oil's was his Dads business. He was President of oil Co. that drilled in place called Kuwait

Answer 2

i don't think bush understands what ozone pollution  and pollution  in general dose to the environment and society. bush has always been ion the side of big business anyway and he seams to oppose standards in general.

Answer 3

Because the Bush administration wants big business to make money, lots of money. It's easier for these businesses if the don't have to follow strict environmental regulations.

And no I don't justify it, they're killing our planet.

Obama '08

Answer 4

Increasing ozone increases hospital admissions, supporting the profitability of the healthcare industry:

Hospitalizations Tied To Ozone Pollution; Study Estimates 50,000 Admissions Annually

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-778637.h...

The rise in premature deaths saves pension and social security costs:

Premature deaths tied to moderate smog

EPA-funded study: Cutting ozone by third would save 4,000 lives

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6502986/

Ignoring ozone pollution allows us to drive historic cars:

"On-road pollution measurements in cities around the U.S. have shown that a small fraction of vehicles produces most vehicle pollution. The worst 5 percent of cars produce half of all ozone-forming volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.   Gross polluters can be most efficiently identified with remote sensing, an inexpensive onroad pollution measurement technology, as they drive on the road. Their owners can then be required to repair the vehicles or voluntarily scrap them for a cash incentive. An aggressive program could reduce automobile VOC emissions by 30 to 40 percent within a year or two.  Unfortunately, regulators and activists instead promote measures such as transit that reduce almost no emissions, cost hundreds of times more per ton of pollution removed, micromanage people’s lifestyle choices, and take many more years to come to fruition."

http://www.johnlocke.org/acrobat/policyR...

Ignoring ozone pollution allows us to operate fossil fuel powered power plants at low cost, and to place them wherever we want:

"...power plants emit about one-quarter of the total U.S. human-made contribution of nitrogen oxides, or NOx, to the atmosphere.  NOx emissions from these plants can combine with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere and sunlight to form ozone pollution. This ozone is produced near the Earth's surface, where it is harmful to human health and damaging to forests and crops. NOAA research has shown that the amount of ozone “smog” produced in power plant plumes is strongly dependent on their size and geographic location."

Most of all, by prolonging the fight over ozone pollution legislators are able to squeeze hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the special interests on both sides of the fight, which supports the economy as new cars and private jets are purchased by our "public servants".  Senator James Inhofe alone scored over $500k from the oil & gas and coal industries.  Surely some of that trickles down to some of the voters in his district as he spends his cash.

We're serfs in a modern day feudal system.  Our health is irrelevant and even our survival is optional as long as there are enough of us left to make the politicians (more) filthy rich.

Answer 5

Because Republicans are evil and don't care diddly squat about you, me, and defending America against polution.

GOPs - Don't give me those thumbs down. If you want to support your party's policies, then defend them, don't criticize me for stating what they are.

Answer 6

President Bush is wholly owned by the corporations.  He is their dog.  In eight years of office can you name one time he has put the interests of the environment over corporate interests.  He has not.  Nor has he placed the interests of the middle class over the interests of the wealthy.  Why are people so blind to this?  Because the media is a corporation and they are in bed with Bush too.

Answer 7

They work for the Bush Administration.

Bush is smart enough to know this entire Global Warming is a ruse. Who gets rich off a global warming scare?  The wacko's.

It is justify by the BUSh aministration  being required to do what is best for the USA and not some Global Warming Conspiracy Wacko's.