January just can't come fast enough. The Bush administration, before leaving office, is attempting to loosen yet another rule meant to protect the environment and citizens, against damage inflicted by big business.
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued draft regulations that would reduce long-standing pollution limits on older, dirtier power plants, by measuring their emissions on hourly output instead of total annual output.
EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said this change to the New Source Review rule will make it work better, but environmentalists and some EPA lawyers say the change will completely undermine the agency's ability to enforce compliance and require the installation of new anti-pollution technology.
Last week, at the behest of the White House, the Interior Department raced to institute new rules on the listing of endangered species and the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Read the Washington Post coverage on the EPA's new draft rules on plant emissions.
