Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Cheney Sought to Alter Climate Discussion

These guys have always tried to make their own rules.

A disclosure Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney's office sought to alter a federal official's prepared testimony about the health consequences of global warming intensified an increasingly open conflict between the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House over how to respond to climate change.

The disclosure about Vice President Cheney's role came from Jason Burnett, who until last month was the EPA's associate deputy administrator. Mr. Burnett, whose duties included advising EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson on a range of issues involving climate change, is a supporter of the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) and has contributed extensively to the campaigns of other Democrats giving more than $100,000 since 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based government watchdog.

And why?

The issue of whether greenhouse gases endanger public health or welfare is significant because a finding by the EPA that they do would require the agency to regulate them under the terms of the federal Clean Air Act, spurring new rules across a range of industries.

Who benefits? Corporate supporters of Cheney-Bush.

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