and big bid-nez (in this case the coal companies)

get away with murder LITERALLY

this is 2009 america and we KNOW we're killing mother earth, yet we allow it to continue. not just that, we're allowing our CHILDREN to slowly be eaten away by toxins. i don't know obama's record on this type of thing but i know king george didn't give a flying f**k. he unsigned several agreements put into place (by clinton) to have big bid-nez be accountable for their actions.
the nyt has an EXTENSIVE article (linked below) on this. they also have done some comprehensive studies (links in the article itself). it is might impressive. (by state, then by city, then by violator then the number of violations and the fines. in connecticut there were NO fines levied)



Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost to Health

By CHARLES DUHIGG

Jennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston, W.Va.

In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater — polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals — caused painful rashes. Many of his brother’s teeth were capped to replace enamel that was eaten away.

Neighbors apply special lotions after showering because their skin burns. Tests show that their tap water contains arsenic, barium, lead, manganese and other chemicals at concentrations federal regulators say could contribute to cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system.........

toxic waters

pic:

Damon Winter/The New York Times

Ryan Massey, 7, shows his caps. Dentists near Charleston, W.Va., say pollutants in drinking water have damaged residents’ teeth. Nationwide, polluters have violated the Clean Water Act more than 500,000 times.

because she's OUR earth

not a democratic earth or a liberal earth. she belongs to ALL of us everywhere. we MUST take care of her or we'll lose her and along the way, ourselves as well

i just never understood the actions of the former administration. ignoring or burying all of the warnings we've gotten thus far. turning around laws we already had in place to protect the environment and allowing big bid-nez to spew their filth into our water supplies.

Winds of Change Evident in U.S. Environmental Policy

By Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writer

Daniel Reifsnyder, a 25-year State Department veteran, knew even before President Obama was elected that U.S. environmental policy was going to change. So in early November, he called a couple of his Environmental Protection Agency counterparts about drafting documents to lay the groundwork for endorsing a treaty to curb global emissions of toxic mercury.

The Bush administration had resisted proposals for a United Nations-sponsored mercury treaty since at least 2005 on the grounds that voluntary measures were sufficient, but Reifsnyder told his fellow career officials that they had an opportunity to quickly formulate a new U.S. position in time for an upcoming meeting in Nairobi. They knew that as a senator, Obama had sponsored legislation banning the export of mercury overseas and that he was likely to be sympathetic to the treaty proposal.........

i don't know when these stupid-ass people

will EVER learn!

1) the earth is about 3 or 4 thousand years old
2) dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time. as a matter of fact, fred flintstone REALLY did ride dino just like roy rode trigger
3) the rapture is coming
4) 'the' gays, 'the' blacks, 'the' jews, 'the' rest of 'em who aren't like US don't count
5) THERE IS NO EFFING THING SUCH AS GLOBAL WARMING OR POLLUTION

Boxer calls for withdrawal of 'blatantly illegal' EPA memo
Muriel Kane
Senate Environment Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey urging him to require Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson to withdraw a "blatantly illegal memo" which would prohibit carbon dixoide emissions from being taken into consideration when issuing air pollution permits.

In a press release accompanying the strongly worded letter, Boxer states, "This illegal document issued by Stephen Johnson makes it clear that he has become a renegade Administrator. He defies the clear language of our environmental laws and acts without legal authority. Mr. Johnson's latest action is intended to make the job of combating global warming more difficult and will add to the millions of taxpayer dollars he has wasted in defending his illegal decisions. The Attorney General has an obligation to intervene when the actions of the Administration are so clearly outside the law."......

he really IS intent

on leaving us his legacy. let's pray (literally PRAY) all of this shite is reversible. they really MUST believe in the rapture. why else would they allow our earth to be raped?

Bush's Worst Midnight Regulation Yet
Posted by Tara Lohan

There are great running lists of all Bush's midnight regulations as he secures his infamous place as the "worst president ever" in our country's annals. Apparently not satisfied with nearly eight years of environmental rollbacks, deregulation, and blatant disregard for air, water, and climate, his latest midnight regulation may be one of the worst environmental assaults yet.

The Washington Post confirmed today that a ruling was approved to make it easier for coal companies to dump the rock and dirt waste that is blown off the tops of mountains in "mountaintop removal" (or MTR) coal mining into streams and valleys:

The rule is one of the most contentious of all the regulations emerging from the White House in President Bush's last weeks in office ...

A coalition of environmental groups said the rule would accelerate "the destruction of mountains, forests and streams throughout Appalachia."

Edward C. Hopkins, a policy analyst at the Sierra Club, said: "The E.P.A.'s own scientists have concluded that dumping mining waste into streams devastates downstream water quality. By signing off on this rule, the agency has abdicated its responsibility."...............

there are some things i can

forgive barack obama for, there are some things i cannot forgive NOR do i understand (does da LIEbs ring a bell???)

but i will be heartbroken if he doesn't keep his word about our earth. king george is either a heartless bastard, wickedly stupid, wickedly uncaring, greedy or just plain insane (or all of the above). not only has he ripped apart our constitution, he attempted to do that to our earth as well. IT MUST STOP NOW, we may not even have time, it may be too late

EPA, Interior Dept. Chiefs Will Be Busy Erasing Bush's Mark
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Few federal agencies are expected to undergo as radical a transformation under President-elect Barack Obama as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department, which have been at the epicenter of many of the Bush administration's most intense scientific and environmental controversies. The agencies have different mandates -- the EPA holds sway over air and water pollution, while Interior administers the nation's vast federal land holdings as well as the Endangered Species Act -- but both deal with some of the country's most pressing environmental concerns, such as climate change. And over the past eight years, many career employees and rank-and-file scientists have clashed with Bush appointees over a number of those of issues, including whether the federal government should allow California to regulate tailpipe emissions from automobiles and how best to prevent imperiled species from disappearing altogether. ....

why are we allowing

our own selves to KILL our own selves? the proof is on the table. pollution is killing our earth and in turn killing us. do we really need an oil refinery next to yellowstone? aren't there BETTER and CLEANER ways to power our country and the rest of the world (the answer my dears is OF COURSE there are but the good ol' white boy network hasn't let it happened. looks like the good ol' white boy network is gonna start getting some cracks in the vase though - oh and hell yeah i'm smilin')

you know you read something like this and it's like a knife to your heart. how can they even propose such a thing much less APPROVE IT?

EPA Moves to Ease Air Rules for Parks

Regional Administrators Decry Decision

By Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writer

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas, even though half of the EPA's 10 regional administrators formally dissented from the decision and four others criticized the move in writing.

Documents obtained by The Washington Post show that the administration's push to weaken Clean Air Act protections for "Class 1 areas" nationwide has sparked fierce resistance from senior agency officials. All but two of the regional administrators objecting to the proposed rule are political appointees.

The proposal would change the practice of measuring pollution levels near national parks, which is currently done over three-hour and 24-hour increments to capture emission spikes during periods of peak energy demand; instead, the levels would be averaged over a year. Under this system, spikes in pollution would no longer violate the law..........

jon stewart

will you marry me?

do you know what today (june 10th) is?

it's the 45th anniversary of the equal pay act. what is the equal pay act? it is a law that says an employer has to pay ME the same wage as a man who does the same work. it doesn't though. i, on average earn only 77 cents to each dollar a man earns.


CONGRESS MUST ACT TO CLOSE THE WAGE GAP FOR WOMEN
More than forty years ago, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act (EPA)1 into law, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work. The following year, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted, making it illegal to discriminate, including in wages and pay, on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, and national origin. At the time of the EPA’s passage in 1963, women earned merely 59 cents to every dollar earned by men.2 Although enforcement of the EPA as well as other civil rights laws has helped to narrow the wage gap, significant disparities remain and need to be addressed.
In addition, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. severely limited workers’ ability to vindicate their rights under federal anti-discrimination laws. To reverse the Supreme Court’s harmful decision, in 2007 the House of Representatives passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Lead sponsor Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced this act in the Senate. To further strengthen current laws against wage discrimination and require the federal government to be more proactive in preventing and battling wage discrimination, lead sponsors Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act.3 Similarly, lead sponsors Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) have introduced the Fair Pay Act to ensure equal pay to those with comparable jobs. Strengthening of equal pay laws is critical to help realize the decades-old promise of equal pay for equal work.
The Gender Wage Gap Persists
The wage disparities are of particular concern in light of the present state of the economy. The majority of Americans say that they are worried about the economy and 85 percent believe the economy is getting worse.4 Women are feeling particularly anxious about the economy (67 percent), and their concern is well-justified.5 Although the general population has suffered because of the economic downturn, women have had a greater loss of jobs and a greater loss in wages than men during this period.6
■ Women working full-time, year-round earn only about 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, virtually the same amount women earned in 2005. In 2006, the median annual earnings of women ages 15 and older working full-time, year-round were $32,515, compared to $42,261 for their male counterparts.7.............................

impeach

i am begging you impeach the soul-less, immoral, stupid 'non-golfing' piece o' steamin' shite that is our king
please

Clean-Air Rules Protecting Parks Set to Be Eased
By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer
The Bush administration is on the verge of implementing new air quality rules that will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas, according to rank-and-file agency scientists and park managers who oppose the plan.
The new regulations, which are likely to be finalized this summer, rewrite a provision of the Clean Air Act that applies to "Class 1 areas," federal lands that currently have the highest level of protection under the law. Opponents predict the changes will worsen visibility at many of the nation's most prized tourist destinations, including Virginia's Shenandoah, Colorado's Mesa Verde and North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt national parks.
Nearly a year ago, with little fanfare, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed changing the way the government measures air pollution near Class 1 areas on the grounds that the nation needed a more uniform way of regulating emissions near protected areas. The agency closed the comment period in April and has indicated it is not making significant changes to the draft rule, despite objections by EPA staff members.
Jeffrey R. Holmstead, who now heads the environmental strategies group at the law firm Bracewelll & Giuliani, helped initiate the rule change while heading the EPA's air and radiation office. He said agency officials became concerned that the EPA's scientific staff was taking "the most conservative approach" in predicting how much pollution new power plants would produce........

instead of REAL scientists

who have morals and value the truth, why doesn't king george and his court hire let's say former horse breeders and the like to fill the positions of 'epa scientists'? he's done it with other government positions. given them to his buds who are IN NO WAY QUALIFIED.

king george says we don't have to do ANYTHING about emissions until 2025. the part where our scientists have been told to lie or at best hide the truth, is not news. we've heard of that before. the EXTENT to which it is happening IS news. let's bring those weasels (king george and his court) up on charges. let's make them accountable

EPA scientists complain about political pressure
Survey shows hundreds of EPA scientists complain about political pressure
H. JOSEF HEBERT
Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists say they have been pressured by superiors to skew their findings, according to a survey released Wednesday by an advocacy group. The Union of Concerned Scientists said more than half of the nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists who responded online to a detailed questionnaire reported they had experienced incidents of political interference in their work.
EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar attributed some of the discontent to the "passion" scientists have toward their work. He said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, as a longtime career scientist at the EPA himself, "weighs heavily the science given to him by the staff in making policy decisions."
But Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Scientific Integrity Program, said the survey results revealed "an agency in crisis" and "under siege from political pressures" especially among scientists involved in risk assessment and crafting regulations..........

thursday humor

well not exactly funny in a ha ha way, but sure as shite funny in the OTHER way. again, it's not so much that this happened (and IS happening as i write this), what gets me the maddest is, NOW WE ALL KNOW this is happening
1) are we going to fire these epa scientists with DIRECT TIES to big bid-nez/chemical companies
2) are we going to allow this to CONTINUE
3) are we going to hold someone's hand to the flame on this?

no
no
no
most likely

Lawmakers Probe EPA Conflicts
By H. JOSEF HEBERT –
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee opened an investigation Monday into potential conflicts of interest in scientific panels that advise the Environmental Protection Agency.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee cited the case of eight scientists who were consultants or members of EPA science advisory panels assessing the human health effects of toxic chemicals while getting research support from the chemical industry on the same chemicals they were examining.
In two cases, EPA advisers were employed by companies that made or worked with manufacturers of the chemicals being evaluated. the committee said.
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the committee's chairman, said such conflicts appear to be in stark contrast to EPA's decision last summer to remove a public health scientist and expert in toxicology, from a panel examining the health impacts of a flame retardant because of critical comments she made about the chemical.
The American Chemistry Council, the industry trade group, had called for the removal of Deborah Rice, a toxicologist from Maine, as chairman of an independent EPA panel assessing the health risks from "deca", a flame retardant in electronic equipment, after she urged the Maine state legislature to ban the chemical.
"The routine use of chemical industry employees and representatives in EPA's scientific review process, together with EPA's dismissal of Dr. Rice raises serious questions with regard to EPA's conflict of interest rules and their application," said Dingell in a letter Monday to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.
Rice, an employee of Maine's Department of Health and Human Services, was never alleged to have any monetary interest associated with deca and her dismissal "seems to argue that scientific expertise ... is a basis for disqualification," the letter continued.
"We will be reviewing the letter and we will respond appropriately," said EPA spokesman Timothy Lyons.......

...........Among the appointments questioned:
_ An employee of Exxon Mobil Corp., who served on an expert panel assessing the cancer-causing potential of ethylene oxide, a chemical also made by Exxon Mobil.
_ A participant in a panel examining the risk to humans from a widely used octane enhancer in gasoline, who was employed by an engineering company working with makers of the chemical and major oil and chemical companies.
_ A scientist who served on a panel examining the health impacts of ethylene oxide, a component in various industrial chemicals, who received research support from Dow Agro, one of the chemicals' manufacturers........

our king

committing an unlawful act you say? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it couldn't possibly be true! i don't believe it! he's playing god again? nooooooooooooooooooooooo. with our lives you say? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i don't believe it

he doesn't LIKE the truth? WELL THAN, HE'LL EFFING CHANGE THE TRUTH! that's OUR king all right

Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest
EPA Scrambles To Justify Action

By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer
The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual last-minute intervention by President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA.
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.
"It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference for the president personally to override a decision that the Clean Air Act leaves exclusively to EPA's expert scientific judgment," said John Walke, clean-air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The president's order prompted a scramble by administration officials to rewrite the regulations to avoid a conflict with past EPA statements on the harm caused by ozone. .........

don't like the limits (OR the truth)?

just change 'em then! the epa does

i'm being flippant, but this IS a life or death matter
EPA Tightens Pollution Standards
But Agency Ignored Advisers' Guidance

By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer
The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday limited the allowable amount of pollution-forming ozone in the air to 75 parts per billion, a level significantly higher than what the agency's scientific advisers had urged for this key component of unhealthy air pollution. Administrator Stephen L. Johnson also said he would push Congress to rewrite the nearly 37-year-old Clean Air Act to allow regulators to take into consideration the cost and feasibility of controlling pollution when making decisions about air quality, something that is currently prohibited by the law. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that the government needed to base the ozone standard strictly on protecting public health, with no regard to cost. ..............

............With Democrats in control of Congress, the proposal to rewrite the Clean Air Act appears to face long odds. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) called the move "outrageous," adding in a statement, "The Bush Administration would have us replace clean air standards driven by science with standards based on the interests of polluters." .............

i had NO idea this was happening

i had NO idea we could LET this type of thing happen. how COULD it happen? why is it being allowed? it's POISON. mercury is POISON

yet ANOTHER example of big bid-nez running OUR lives

BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan

By Bobby Carmichael, USA TODAY
A BP (BP) refinery in Indiana will be allowed to continue to dump mercury into Lake Michigan under a permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The permit exempts the BP plant at Whiting, Ind., 3 miles southeast of Chicago, from a 1995 federal regulation limiting mercury discharges into the Great Lakes to 1.3 ounces per year.
The BP plant reported releasing 3 pounds of mercury through surface water discharges each year from 2002 to 2005, according to the Toxics Release Inventory, a database on pollution emissions kept by the Environmental Protection Agency that is based on information reported by companies.........

see? what did i just say in the previous posting?

Bush bypassing Senate to name conservative academic to post

Ron Brynaert

President Bush intends to bypass the Senate in order to name a "conservative academic" to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reports.........

................According to the paper, "Susan Dudley, the former head of regulatory studies at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, has generated opposition from environmentalists and liberal interest groups, who say she would carry out a pro-business agenda at the expense of public health and safety."
Saturday's LA Times noted that Dudley and two others that the president wishes to appoint "have ties to industries that face costly Environmental Protection Agency restrictions, and all three have previously bypassed or questioned the EPA's scientific process."............

...............In an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jon Carroll writes that Dudley "is already on record as believing that the EPA rules are too strict.".......

it's NOT (really it's not) the fact ms dudley is a 'conservative'. it's the fact ms dudly MAY not be the RIGHT person for this job. the fact ms dudley MAY not really be concerned with the environment at all