EPA Bows to Politics On Ozone Standards

Is the Environmental Protection Agency more interested inprotecting the environment or protecting the president?

In yet another questionable move, the agency says there's noreason to tighten the standards for urban ozone. This despitescientific evidence that stricter standards are needed to protect thehealth of children, older Americans and those of all ages withrespiratory illnesses.

And why would the agency choose to ignore such evidence?Because it didn't have time to review the studies prior to acourt-imposed Aug. 1 deadline, according to Robert D. Brenner, headof the EPA air policy office.

Seems he forgot that the regulatory review was already sevenyears overdue before the court imposed that deadline.

And that seems also to us to justify criticism of theenvironmental policies of George Bush - who pledged in 1988 to becomethe environmental president.

The administration may have written a new Clean Air Act, butit's doing little to beef up enforcement of environmental standards.In fact, Brenner blamed the time required to write regulations forthe new law for keeping the agency from thoroughly reviewing the oldozone standards.

Monday's pronouncement comes just a month after the UnitedStates embarrassed itself at the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.There, the United States signed a treaty calling for reduced carbondioxide emissions, but rejected calls for setting timetables toachieve the lower emission levels. Bush operatives said settingdeadlines would stunt economic growth.

Is this sort of thing good policy or good politics? In thispolitical silly season, that's probably a silly question.

Besides, the millions of Americans who suffer the ill effects ofsmog already know the answer.