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News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Thursday, January 24, 2008
EPA Staff Advised Johnson Against Denying California
Yesterday, Reg•Watch blogged about EPA's refusal to release background documents on its decision to deny California's attempt to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. EPA rattled off several lame excuses for withholding the information from the public.
Details of those documents are beginning to surface. As expected, they show that EPA staff advised Administrator Stephen Johnson to grant California's request and instructed him that, if EPA blocked California from enacting its own regulations, the agency would likely lose in litigation.
Yesterday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, headed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), released the information, though not the actual documents. According to BNA news service (subscription), "EPA allowed committee staff to look at three different versions of the October PowerPoint presentation during a meeting Jan. 22. Three staff members were given five hours to review the three versions, according to the committee. They were not allowed to make copies."
We're not talking about nuclear launch codes or classified intelligence here. This information should not be shared solely with Congress. The American people have a right to know exactly why their government is preventing states from curbing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.
Johnson is scheduled to appear before Boxer's committee today at 10:00 am. The hearing is scheduled to be broadcast on C-SPAN.
Posted by Matt Madia
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