Washington – The Obama administration is abandoning its plan to immediately tighten air quality rules nationwide to cut reduce emissions of smog-causing chemicals after an intense lobbying campaign by industry, which said the new rule would cost billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs, officials said Friday.
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The Environmental Protection Agency, following the recommendation of its scientific advisers, had proposed lowering the so-called ozone standard from that set by the Bush administration to a new stricter standard that would have thrown hundreds of American counties out of compliance with the Clean Air Act. It would have required a major effort by state and local officials, as well as new emissions controls by industries and agriculture across the country.
The more lenient Bush administration standard from 2006 will remain in place until a scheduled reconsideration of acceptable pollution limits in 2013, officials indicated Friday.
Smart move…they’ve been going through proposed regs in a number of areas and eliminating or softening those with negative job impacts. While some of these might be desireable in a growing economy, they are not viable now. By doing this, Obama is taking away a major issue from Republicans
Now obama is running scared. He should have stop his nonsense 2 and 1/2 years ago and maybe the economy would not be so bad
looking for votes in all the wrong places
What’s more important? Clean air, or billionares not losing a dollar? Obviously, billionares’ wealth is more important. That’s why it’s OK for them to hand out pink slips by the thousands all the time; except when they would also lose out.
Running scared because of the election. Obama is a radical environmental zealot. Killing small businesses with costly regulations.