Criticism in an interagency memo of potential government regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act (CAA) -- saying it will hurt the economy, and questioning whether such a "precautionary" move would too expansively open up the door for government regulation -- was written by a holdover from the Bush administration, an Obama administration official said today.
Excuses, excuses....
"Making the decision to regulate CO2 under the CAA for the first time is likely to have serious economic consequences for regulated entities throughout the U.S. economy, including small businesses and small communities," states one comment in the memo, which were collected and officially sent by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. "Should EPA later extend this finding to stationary sources, small businesses and institutions would be subject to costly regulatory programs such as New Source Review."
Which is exactly what Bambi and his EPA want.
That and other comments appeared in an Obama administration interagency review responding to the Environmental Protection Agency finding on greenhouse gases. The document, published at the end of April, was an accumulation of many comments from throughout the departments and agencies in the administration.
spokesman for the Office of Advocacy said he did not know who contributed the comments, but noted that Shawne C. McGibbon, the Acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy in the Small Business Administration, wrote about greenhouse gases last November, writing that the expansion of the the scope of the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases "could make hundreds of thousands of small entities that have not previously had to deal with the Clean Air Act potentially subject to extensive new clean air requirements. ...The compliance burdens associated with these requirements would devastate small entities throughout the economy..."
McGibbon, however, is not a "Bush holdover," having been with SBA since 1994.
Oops. Quick - think up another excuse, Rahm!
Rest at the link, including a link to OMB's nine-page, unsigned document, marked "Deliberative -- Attorney Client Privilege." Ain't loyalty wonderful, Bambi?