More on the EPA for hire scandal, which is brewing in my mind at least.
E.P.A. Accused of a Predetermined Finding on Mercury:
The inspector general's report said the technological and scientific analysis by the agency was “compromised” to keep cleanup costs down for the utility industry.
The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general charged on Thursday that the agency's senior management instructed staff members to arrive at a predetermined conclusion favoring industry when they prepared a proposed rule last year to reduce the amount of mercury emitted from coal-fired power plants.Mercury, which can damage the neurological development of fetuses and young children, has been found in increasingly high concentrations in fish in rivers and streams in the United States.
The inspector general's report, citing anonymous agency staff members and internal e-mail messages, said the technological and scientific analysis by the agency was “compromised” to keep cleanup costs down for the utility industry.
The goal of senior management, the report said, was to allow the agency to say that the utility industry could do just as good a job through complying with the Bush administration's “Clear Skies” legislation as it could by installing costly equipment that a stringent mercury-control rule would require.
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Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts,... issued a statement saying that Ms. Tinsley's report revealed “one of the most disturbing examples I've seen of an administration allowing spin and junk science to endanger the health of our children.” And Bill Becker, the executive director of a coalition of state and local air pollution control officials, said: “The I.G.'s findings are troubling, but not unexpected. Nearly every state in the country has issued fish consumption advisories due to mercury-poisoned waters. E.P.A. must comply with the law and require stringent cleanup measures at utilities.”
