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White House moves to limit fallout from allies after retreat on clean-air rule
The White House moved quickly Friday to try and quell anger from the left over President Obama's decision to shelve planned smog regulations.
White House officials vowed Friday to defend other Clean Air Act regulations that are under attack by Capitol Hill Republicans, who plan to move several bills to kill or weaken separate rules including those on power plant mercury emissions, greenhouse gases and toxic emissions from industrial boilers.
Leading green groups blasted the White House decision in a series of scathing press releases that sounded like the attacks once lodged against the George W. Bush administration.
"The Sierra Club condemns the Obama administration's decision to delay critical, long-overdue protections from smog, an acidic air pollutant that when inhaled is like getting a sunburn on your lungs,” said Sierra Club President Michael Brune, whose group has an active political field operation.
“By putting the interest of coal and oil polluters first, the White House seems to be saying that ‘clean air will have to wait,’” he said.
Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch called Obama's decision an “abject act of political cowardice.”
The backlash underscores Obama’s delicate position as he tries to show that he’s seeking to boost jobs in the sour economy, while fending off relentless GOP claims that his environmental agenda is a brake on growth.
Since last year's disastrous election for Democrats, the president has tried to move to the political center and repair frayed relations with the business community. That effort — epitomized by the selection of William Daley as chief of staff — has already stirred up tension with labor unions, which were among the president's strongest backers in 2008.
Now, with the business-friendly move on the ozone rules, Obama risks alienating another group of key supporters as he embarks on a grueling reelection campaign.
Even before announcing the retreat on ozone rules, Obama’s standing among environmentalists had grown precarious ahead of the 2012 elections.
Some activists are warning that potential approval of a major oil sands pipeline could dampen enthusiasm in 2012 among young and green-minded voters that vigorously backed Obama in 2008.
The White House decision to scuttle EPA’s plan followed immense pressure from industry groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers and several oil industry groups.
But one White House official insisted Friday that the political heat from business was not behind the decision.
“This is not a product of industry pressure. This is a judgment on the merits,” the White House official said.
Obama, in his statement on the decision, did not reference specific GOP or industry attacks, but said “my commitment and the commitment of my administration to protecting public health and the environment is unwavering.”
“My administration will continue to vigorously oppose efforts to weaken EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act or dismantle the progress we have made,” he said.
But White House officials also said their accomplishments to date will help reduce ozone — which is linked to asthma and other ailments — even as they’re abandoning the smog rule itself.
They are citing completed auto efficiency rules and standards to reduce power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, as well as upcoming utility air toxics rules, among the measures they note will help cut smog-forming pollution.
The White House on Friday said it would not issue pending rules that would have toughened Bush-era ozone standards and instead will wait until the next scheduled review in 2013.
Obama — citing the need to reduce regulatory uncertainty during the economic recovery — said Friday he did not want to implement a new standard that will be reconsidered so soon.
“Work is already underway to update a 2006 review of the science that will result in the reconsideration of the ozone standard in 2013,” Obama said in his statement. “Ultimately, I did not support asking state and local governments to begin implementing a new standard that will soon be reconsidered.”
Cass Sunstein, the top regulatory official at the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that delay will allow more updated science to be brought to bear on ozone policy.
An array of business groups applauded the decision. U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue cited Friday’s Labor Department report that the economy added no net jobs in August in praising the retreat on the ozone rule.
“If today’s employment report reveals anything, it’s that our economy is in neutral and may soon be rolling backwards,” he said, citing industry-funded studies that claimed the ozone rule would have eventually cost millions of jobs.
“I'm pleased the administration recognizes that now is not the time to burden America’s job creators with unwarranted regulations," he said.
