Constitutional Law

White House Allegedly Interfered With EPA Decision on Tailpipe Emissions

The White House allegedly interfered with an EPA decision that would have allowed California to limit tailpipe emissions, according to a House Committee report. The agency’s career staff unanimously supported at least a partial granting of California’s request for a waiver and argued that any other decision would not stand up to court scrutiny.

The EPA’s Administrator purportedly favored granting California’s request. An administration spokesperson denied White House interference.

In a related news analysis, federal courts have limited the Bush administration’s “de facto deregulation of the environment,” giving the administration few legal victories on environmental matters except when it appears before the U.S. Supreme Court. The article noted that “many judges have scolded the administration over its legal tactics and what they said was disregard for the law and science.”

Full post as published by ACS Blog on May 26, 2008 (boomark / email).