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TechnoratiBlind and naked Ignorance
Delivers brawling judgments, unashamed,
On all things all day along.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien
If there were only one agency (and there's probably not) that has consistently enjoyed the benefits lavished on it by an ignorant president who continuously diminishes its standing in the world of science, it would be the Environmental Protection Agency. No other agency has so thoroughly given in to the importunings of a president who lives in constant fear of what science might offer if left to its own devices, it being a branch of knowledge that cannot be controlled by him or Dick Cheney.
A hint of things to come started with Mr. Bush's refusal to sign the Kyoto Treaty on global warming. That was an issue he preferred not to address since it addressed something that to Mr. Bush's way of thinking had no address since it wasn't the problem others thought it was and, more especially, was a problem he was prepared to address quite differently from the rest of the world.
Then came Christie Whitman's 2003 departure from the E.P.A. that she headed from the beginning of the Bush administration. Her tenure was marked by criticism from administration critics who thought she did too little to advance regulatory remedies to extant environmental issues, and administration insiders who thought she was doing too much. Irrespective of who was right, her departure marked the beginning of a change at the EPA that continued throughout the rest of the Bush years.
In October 2003 the Agency announced a new set of rules permitting power plants, oil companies and other industries to avoid requirements of the Clean Air Act of 1970 that says, among other things, that industrial plants that upgrade facilities must install modern pollution controls. The 2003 rules provided that so long as the upgrade did not cost more than 20% of the total cost of replacing the entire facility, it would be considered "routine maintenance" rather than an upgrade. In December of that year the EPA announced that mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants should not be regulated the same as other toxic air pollutants. According to the New York Times the proposal would place legally mandated mercury regulation "under a less stringent section of the Clean Air Act that governs pollutants that cause smog and acid rain, which are not toxic to humans."
In December 2006 we learned of another of the administration's encounters with science that involved eliminating some of the libraries maintained by the EPA, as effective a way of silencing critics as there is. (Anticipating the departure of George Bush, presumably, on June 17, 2008 the EPA told Congress that the libraries that had been closed were being reopened and books returned whence they'd gone during the Bush sponsored knowledge blackout.)
Concurrent with the library closings the EPA announced a new protocol pertaining to national air-quality standards. Instead of having independent scientists and professional scientists within the EPA set safety standards for various pollutants, staff scientists were instructed to come up with what is called "policy-relevant" science and only after that has been constructed are the professionals permitted to comment.
The most recent skirmish between science and the EPA occurred in December of 2007. California applied for a waiver from the provisions of the energy bill signed by Mr. Bush in December that established a federal goal to reduce automobile emissions by 40% by 2020. California wanted to effect a 30 percent reduction by 2016. EPA staffers believed the waiver should be granted as had other waivers sought by California. Overruling staff, Stephen Johnson, the EPA administrator, said that California's request did not "meet compelling and extraordinary conditions" and turned down the waiver.
In response to that decision and a decision made in March 2007 to issue smog regulations that were less strict that those recommended by an EPA science advisory board the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee began an investigation. Among other things it wanted to know if the White House had pressured Mr. Johnson.
As part of its investigation the committee subpoenaed more than 10,000 documents. Twenty-five of the sought after documents were withheld. It is those that Mr. Waxman and his committee would like to review, believing they may permit the committee to discover the level of involvement, if any, by the White House in the EPA decision. Mr. Bush refused to turn them over claiming executive privilege. Attorney General Michael Mukasey wrote a letter to the committee supporting the claim of executive privilege. He said the release of the documents could inhibit the candor of future deliberations among the president and others dealing with political issues. He could have argued that their release would have disclosed George Bush's ignorance about matters environmental. That would be a convincing argument since most presidential observers would agree that if anyone were ever to be entitled to claim that ignorance is protected by executive privilege, it would be George Bush.
13 Comments so far
Show All"A hint of things to come started with Mr. Bush's refusal to sign the Kyoto Treaty on global warming."
I never understood what the point of this treaty was if you were going to exempt China and India from it?
Aside from which (wait....I have to find my helmet) there still isn't conclusive scientific evidence to verify Global Warming. Belief doesn't qualify as proof and there seem to be as many saying yes as no in the scientific community.
These are all excellent arguments and statements.
Having studied mythology and especially Native American mythology I am reminded of the many stories---cross cultural----of the "Acquisition of Fire", often by theft, sometimes by guile, sometimes by accidental observation. The theft of fire myths are considered by the academics to be a metaphor for the acquisition of "Knowledge". All of the other mythological stories about human development, follow the "Fire Stories".
I have also studied the Law, and find that it is basically an invention by human beings to control the behavior of those within their "realm", "camp", "village", etc. In particular, the manner in which those humans treat other humans.
Ignorance of the Law is excusable only to strangers of the "realm"---and no one who has been part of the "realm" can claim ignorance.
In fact, for those who break the Laws punishment is rendered. Prometheus passed fire onto humans and was punished by being chained to a great stone, and have his liver eaten by a great beast, only to have the liver regenerate overnight to start the process anew each day, day after day...forever..
No one should escape the Law, and if enough people make enough noise, to enough people, who in turn make enough noise----will the high and mighty, be brought down to the same as the others-------comply with the Law---or suffer the punishment...
If it's good enough for a Greek God, then a "Man who would be King" and those who do his bidding should be punished as well.
No other way should be acceptable.
The "scientific community" pays more attention to grantsmanship in its obscure sub-specialties than it ever paid to the future of the earth, and the scientific education of the public has been systematically neglected. Now a few scientists crawl out of their labs and expect the world to turn itself upside down on their say-so.
They might just as well go back to chasing the Higgs boson or some other entity that only one person in a million will ever understand, and stop bemoaning a general ignorance that their own self-absorption helped create.
I had the privilege of exploring some off shore islands in the Gulf of Mexico the past 2 days, and found one place where the bees are going... probably to get away from the ecocide of the mainland via the profligate use of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, genetic franken(stein) plants, AND forced (via bee keeper constant excursions) labor. Nature's elemental forces are connected to highly intelligent energetic imprints. It was powerful to evidence this to the degree I just did...
Good posts by all above.
Curmudgeon99: NSA...very funny!
The tent dwellers will still be fighting for the right to bear arms - membership in the NSA will be the litmus test for their leaders.
National Spear Association (or read 'sword' for 'spear', if you like.
Even if Bush did pressure Johnson to gut environmental regulations, industry still controls many of the scientific advisory committees, and have stacked the deck with their own "scientists." It will take an act of Congress or a very bold president to remove the parasites from the agency. Given that McCain is almost as environmentally ignorant as Bush, and that Obama and McCain both answer to the same corporate masters, it is hard to see this happening. Instead, what will most likely happen is some tweaking around the edges, some minor improvements that will make very little real difference, but will be paraded about in the MSM to give the impression that the EPA is really interested in protecting the environment.
For the foreseeable future, EPA stands for Earth Pillaging Agency.
canuckchuck June 29th, 2008 1:34 pm -- 'Pretty soon the USA will be living in tents, and sacrificing lambs.'
Well, with all due sympathy for the domestic ovine population, you'll have to admit that it might be an improvement over the ongoing slaughters of innocents abroad. Unfortuately, I fear that the two scenarios aren't mutually exclusive and that USA Incorporated would still manage to find some way to raise military resources from amongst the clueless tent-dwelling nomads.
Anyone ever look up Bush's grades in General Science, or maybe he was just 'left behind.'
Why does all this ignorant behavior surprise you? The religious right with whom Dubya has a close relationship has an abhorent hatred of anything that smacks of science, especially if they don't agree with the findings. The EPA is just only example of craziness gone amuck. Kyota was just the initial shot and we failed to hear and see the coming natural disaster.
Women's health and reproductive rights is another.
Denial of global warming; as if the melting polar caps wasn't a good enought sign that something is amiss.
Failure to protect the fisheries in this country, so as to ensure adequate fish for food for future generations.
The disappearig honeybees and maybe our food supply.
A Farm Bill that does everything but actually provide food for the citizens of this country.
The only way to correct all this mess is to get us a new President and the soon the better.
they should change the name to the BEA...Biblical Enforcement Agency
Daddy, why is the sky blue? Becasue God wills it!!
Pretty soon the USA will be living in tents, and sacrificing lambs
Scientific Betrayal
Never before have Americans experienced such dangerous manipulation of essential scientific data, as used by this administration to derail vital environmental reforms, conservation, family planning-- and the list goes on. The resulting long term environmental and social damage are beyond measure, and can only worsen if not curtailed.
Despite their clandestine cloak, or environmental friendly disguise, these sellouts have been evident since Bush first was handed the presidency. They have been exposed by defectors from the EPA, health & human services, etc; and have been documented and chronicled by numerous dedicated environmental organizations including The Union of Concerned Scientists.
The gravity of these unprecedented betrayals eclipses the Monica Lewinski scandal which led to an impeachment, and pose greater dangers than Watergate which terminated a presidency.
Blame for these dreadful consequences falls mainly on the five supreme court justices who placed politics ahead of the law and put him in office against the voters choice; our legislators for allowing such reckless and dangerous behavior from this unlearned president guided by his financial and radical supporters; and especially the apathetic populace for tolerating this unprecedented outrage
What would the enforcers employed by the lice in Washington tell someone they wished to see arrested for breaking unknown laws? That would be; "ignorance, of the law, is no excuse".
Ignorance doesn't seem to be the same thing as murderous and willful indifference.