Feature: Crossroads

Dick Cheney’s EPA Scam
By Mike Papantonio (from air america's Ring of Fire)
In 2007, the most right wing reactionary Supreme Court America has seen since the 1930’s had to admit that George Bush’s crony hack EPA was intensely ignoring the fact that they had a responsibility to regulate global warming pollution from carbon fuels. In fact, even this industry lapdog US Supreme Court had at least a moment of inspiration when they directed the White House last fall to take action to begin regulating the problem.
Not long after the EPA was directed to do their job, Dick Cheney and George Bush figured out a way to protect their energy industry pals who are saturating our atmosphere with carbons from power plants and carbons from their 4 dollar a gallon fuel.
Here’s their plan – Direct the EPA and its industry-trained monkey EPA administrator Stephen Johnson – direct them to use a delay tactic that would add years to any activity from the EPA. The delay tactic is where the EPA pursues a meticulously detailed drawn out administrative process called the advance notice of proposed rule making. What that means is the EPA is telling industry that they can draw out their objections, demand hearings, demand delay studies, file lawsuits, and basically for years ignore any need to actively clean up their mess that is slowly melting our planet.
So think about this – you might believe that all progressives need to do is win back a veto-proof Congress to reverse the sick, twisted years of George Bush and Dick Cheney. But do you really think that if John McCain were calling the shots around the EPA anything would really be different?