Although it’s twilight for the Bush Administration, the president and his cronies aren’t savoring their final hours by propping up their cowboy boots tipping back their gallon hats while they toast each other to all of the havoc their policies have wreaked on the world. No, they’re still busy and there’s a lot of dirty, ugly stuff the Bush Administration is ramming through in its final days. We can’t lose our focus on stopping some of their final nasty 11^th hour regulations and rollbacks that will be a final Bush imprint on our air, water, public lands, wildlife and consumer policies. The Administration is being extra clever by trying to get these regulations in place by November 22^nd, which would make it even more difficult for the Obama Administration to undo them. I’ve already written about a couple of these lovely proposals, but there are 90 total, so here are some highlights along with organizations fighting these new regulations. Takepart today with the organizations listed with each item to stop Bush’s final onslaught.

1. Grand Canyon. Yes, one of our nation’s treasured goals is under assault as the current Administration has allowed uranium mining within three miles of the park. Takepart with Environmental Working Group
2. Mountaintop Mining Removal. If mining wasn’t already a highly polluting exercise to retrieve an energy source, the Bush Administration seems to want to up the ante to make it an even greater source of pollution by giving waivers to mining companies to directly dump their mountaintop waste directly into nearby rivers and streams. Takepart with the Sierra Club.
3. Power plants. Again, the Bush Administration seems to just love these pollution emitters and wants energy companies to dictate our air standards. Their proposals would allow for plants to be built near national parks and wilderness areas. And, they would like to establish a loophole so that older plants will not be required to add pollution-control technology if they increase their emissions (as currently required under the Clean Air Act). Takepart with NRDC.
4. Logging. As I already wrote, Bush and his cronies want to open up protected areas in western Oregon to logging. Takepart with the Wilderness Society.
5. Endangered Species Act. The Administration would remove the required approval by scientists about the impact of a policy or law on an endangered species. Takepart today with the National Wildlife Federation.
6. Truck Drivers. A dangerous new regulation would allow them to drive 10% more without a break, placing themselves and other vehicles on the road at increased risk. Takepart with OMB Watch.
7. Endangered Species Act. This historic Act could be weakened if the Administration allows for changes to the normal approval process by not requiring the executive branch to consult with an independent agency to determine whether a project could endanger a species. Takepart today with the National Wildlife Federation.
8. Individuals with Disabilities. Bush is proposing to water down the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act by weakening accessibility standards and reducing access enforcement. This would amount to discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Takepart with United Cerebal Palsy.
9. Medicaid benefits to be reduced. The amount of out-patient hospital services provided to low-income people through Medicaid’s would be cut. Takepart with OMB Watch.
10. Family Planning. The Administration is threatening to cut funding to health facilities and organizations that refuse to hire people who refuse to provide birth control. The proposal could define some types of birth control as abortion. takepart with the National Women’s Law Center.

(photo by Storm Crypt)

As we mentioned a few days ago, Congress is working on legislation to protect the Clean Water Act from some changes the Executive branch has made over the past few years. Well, now, the Judicial branch of government is doing the same, as the Washington Post reports that a United States Court of Appeals has overturned a Bush administration ruling “that prevented states and local governments from imposing stricter monitoring of pollution generated by power plants, factories and oil refineries than required by the federal government.”

The ruling, which fell 2-1, determined that the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to allow states to set stricter pollution standards than required is violation of the Clean Air Act.

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When it comes to global warming, some people just don’t get it. This can be frustrating enough when dealing with a misguided friend or acquaintance. But when the denier happens to be a United States Senator, one of a mere 100 voices charged with protecting the vital interests of the country, frustration can give way to sheer astonishment.

Enter Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), one of the most outspoken and passionate deniers of Global Warming in all of American politics - and given the utter lack of action on the urgent issue by the Federal government until just recently this is no small feat. Things have begun to change for the better though, with or without Senator Inhofe, in the recent passage of legislation upping the required mileage on automobiles sold in the United States and with the 2007 ruling by the Supreme Court that the EPA must do more to enforce the Clean Air Act which has slowly prodded the Bush Administration into talking about doing something (which sadly represents progress since it’s more than they had been doing).

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The Washington Post reported today that with very little fanfare, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rewritten a section of the Clean Air Act which will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas.

The rewriting affects Class 1 areas, the highest level of protection afforded parks and wilderness (short of the Witness Protection Program, but it’s really really hard to hide a forest).   The change is policy is subtle, but the effects substantial.   Basically, the policy now is to not allow pollution levels to ever go over a certain mark, even in short spikes.   The new policy would afford, you know, the ability to pollute more, and more often.   It acts like a cap and trade program, except the pollution is trading with itself.   Confused?  Let’s let the pros discuss:

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Eighteen states sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday for failing to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles. The suit comes one year after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision outlining that the EPA had the power to limit said emissions under the Clean Air Act. In addition to these 18 states, 3 cities and 11 environmental organizations have also signed onto the suit.

The Supreme Court ruling was viewed as a major defeat for the Bush administration given their policy on global warming. Although the administration has admitted that some aspects of climate change are human-caused, they have been widely opposed to “across-the-board” limits on carbon emissions.

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