 Auto
 Emissions
 Dick
Cheney
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 Stephen
L Johnson
STEPHEN JOHNSON News:
20080502
-
Stephen
Johnson -
 Corporate
-  Government
-  Politics
-  Fetal
-  Human
-  Health
-  Science
-  Environmental
-  Safety
-  Enforcement
-  Emergency
-  Wildlife
-  Soil
-  Water
-  Law
- Manufacturing
-  History
-  Michigan
-  Illinois
- "EPA's
top Midwest regulator forced out: Mary Gade, based
in Chicago [Illinois], says [Republican President] Bush administration
made her quit over Dow Chemical case." ... "The Bush administration forced
its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to quit Thursday after months
of internal bickering about dioxin contamination downstream from Dow Chemical's
world headquarters in Michigan." ... "In an interview with the [Chicago]
Tribune, Mary Gade said two top officials at the U.S. [United States] Environmental
Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers
as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1."
... "Gade said she had told the agency she would resign her position, based
in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "For the past year, Gade has been locked in
a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated
soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich. [Michigan],
plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron." ... "Gade, a former corporate attorney
appointed by Bush in September 2006, invoked emergency powers last year
to force Dow to clean up four hot spots of dioxin, including the largest
amount of the cancer-causing chemical ever recorded in the United States."
... "In January, Dow urged officials at the EPA's [Environmental Protection
Agency's] headquarters to intervene after Gade broke off negotiations intended
to renew the terms for a more comprehensive cleanup. Neither side would
reveal details, citing confidentiality agreements, but Gade said Dow resisted
taking steps needed to protect human health and wildlife." ... "Though
regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental
laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she
sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw [Michigan] neighborhood where
Dow had found high dioxin levels." ... "She said top lieutenants to Stephen
Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive
action against Dow, which long ago acknowledged it is responsible for the
dioxin contamination but has resisted federal and state involvement in
cleanup plans." ... "Dow dumped dioxin-contaminated waste into the waterways
for most of the last century. The chemical, which is so toxic that it is
measured in trillionths of a gram, was a manufacturing byproduct of the
Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange and other chlorinated herbicides." ...
"Company documents show Dow knew by the mid-1960s that it could make people
sick or even kill them." ... "Citing years of independent studies, the
EPA says dioxin can cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and alter fetal
development." ... ""We have a responsibility to make sure people are living
in a healthy and safe environment," Gade said. "This problem has been out
there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't
been taken."" (1, 2)
-By Michael Hawthorne
-ChicagoTribune
20080313
-
Stephen
L Johnson - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Environmental
- Air
- Health
- Science
- Clean
Air Act - Law
- History
- Vehicles
- Manufacturing
-
 Power
Plants - Children
- "EPA
Tightens Pollution Standards: But Agency Ignored
Advisers' Guidance." ... "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 [meaning more polluting]
than what the agency's scientific advisers had urged for this key component
of unhealthy air pollution." ... "[Republican President Bush's Environmental
Protection Agency] 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." ... "The new pollution rules -- one of the most
important environmental decisions facing the Bush administration in the
president's final year in office -- will be a major factor in determining
the quality of the air Americans will breathe for at least a decade. The
standards, which are aimed at protecting both public health and welfare,
are designed to limit the amount of nitrogen oxides and other chemical
compounds released into the air by vehicles, manufacturing facilities and
power plants. In sunlight, the pollutants form ozone." ... "Johnson said
he did "what was required by the law and the recent scientific evidence,"
but his decision to set a lower but still less-restrictive limit than what
the EPA's advisory committees had recommended sparked a backlash from Democratic
lawmakers, public health advocates and his own independent advisers." ...
"Nearly a year ago, EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee reiterated
in writing that its members were "unanimous in recommending" that the agency
set the standard no higher than 70 parts per billion (ppb) and to consider
a limit as low as 60 ppb. EPA's Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee
and public health advocates lobbied for the 60-ppb limit because children
are more vulnerable to air pollution." ... "EPA and other scientists have
shown that ozone has a direct impact on rates of heart and respiratory
disease and resulting premature deaths. The agency calculates that the
new standard of 75 ppb would prevent 1,300 to 3,500 premature deaths a
year, whereas 65 ppb would avoid 3,000 to 9,200 deaths annually. " -By
Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost
20080226
-
Stephen
Johnson - Environmental
- Politics
-
 California
- Transportation
- Auto
- Makers
- Emissions
- Law
- Health
- Science
- Clean
Air Act - Enforcement
- "Documents:
EPA chief warned not to deny California on emission standard."
... "A Environmental Protection Agency official warned her boss, [Republican
President Bush's] EPA chief Stephen Johnson, that if he denied California's
bid to enforce its own tailpipe emissions rules, the agency's credibility
"will be irreparably damaged" and Johnson would have to think about resigning."
... "Margot Oge, the head of EPA's office of transportation and air quality,
also told Administrator Johnson in an Oct. 17 memo that "there is no legal
or technical justification for denying this," despite "alternative interpretations
that have been suggested by the automakers."" ... "These internal warnings
were included in EPA documents released Tuesday by [California Democratic
Senator] Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Environment
Committee and had requested the records." ... "Johnson turned down California's
request for a waiver from the Clean Air Act on [2007 December] Dec. 19,
after months of review. He overruled the recommendations of senior staff
members, according to several media reports, and the documents released
Tuesday provide some examples." ... ""The documents show the dedicated,
professional staff working hard to protect our health and our environment,"
Boxer said. "We see more and more evidence of Administrator Johnson ignoring
the science and the facts, and discarding the advice of his staff."" -By
Frank Davies -MercuryNews.com
20071224
-
Dick
Cheney
- Car
- Manufacturers
- Fumes
- Corporate
- Government
- Environmental
- Science
- Politics
- California
-
 Climate
- "Cheney
accused of blocking Californian bid to cut car fumes."
... "The US [United States Republican] vice-president, Dick Cheney, was
behind a controversial decision to block California's attempt to impose
tough emission limits on car manufacturers, according to insiders at the
government Environmental Protection Agency." ... "Staff at the agency,
which announced last week that California's proposed limits were redundant,
said the agency's chief went against their expert advice after car executives
met Cheney, and a Chrysler executive delivered a letter to the EPA [Environmental
Protection Agency] saying why the state should not be allowed to regulate
greenhouse gases." ... "EPA staff members told the Los Angeles Times that
the agency's head, the [Republican President] Bush appointee Stephen Johnson,
ignored their conclusions and shut himself off from consultation in the
month before the announcement. He then informed them of his decision and
instructed them to provide the legal rationale for it, they said." -By
Dan Glaister -Guardian.co.uk
20071219
-
Stephen
Johnson -
 Mary
E Peters
- Dick
Cheney
- Government
- Political
- Gas
- Auto
- Makers
- Fuel
- Economy
- Laws
- Environmental
- Health
- Safety
-  American
- People
- Transportation
- California
- History
-  Global
- Climate
- Clean
Air Act - "EPA
blocks California bid to limit greenhouse gases from cars."
... "The [Republican President] Bush administration blocked efforts by
California and 16 other states Wednesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions
from cars and trucks, setting up a political and legal fight over whether
states can take a lead role in combatting global warming." ... "[Republican
President Bush's] Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen
Johnson rejected California's request for a waiver from the federal government
to impose its tough tailpipe emissions standards. The other states were
poised to adopt similar rules if California's request was granted." ...
"The states represent nearly half the U.S. [United States] population,
and their laws would effectively require automakers to cut greenhouse gas
emissions nationwide, despite [Republican] President Bush's rejection of
mandatory national standards." ... "Johnson said Congress' passage of an
energy bill this week that raises fuel economy standards for all cars and
trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 made the state laws unnecessary."
... "California officials said they believed Johnson had long ago decided
to oppose the state's waiver, and said he was using the newly passed energy
bill as an excuse. Nothing in the new law prevents states from taking stronger
action, they said." ... ""I find this disgraceful," said [California Democratic
Senator] Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.[Democratic-California], who helped
write the fuel-economy law. "The passage of the energy bill does not give
the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] a green light to shirk its responsibility
to protect the health and safety of the American people from air pollution.""
... "It was the first time the EPA has flat-out denied a waiver request
by California under the Clean Air Act. The law gives California special
authority to set stronger standards because the state has a long history
of smog and other air-quality problems." ... "California officials complained
that EPA's decision-making process for the waiver was tainted months ago
when documents revealed that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters led a
lobbying campaign to urge lawmakers to call the EPA and oppose the waiver
request." ... "Automakers have been meeting regularly at the White House
to discuss the new fuel-economy standards. The Detroit News reported that
[Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney met with the CEOs [Chief Executive
Officers] of Chrysler and Ford this fall to try to influence the policy."
-By Zachary Coile -SFGate.com
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