Obama Administration Retreats on Pollution Rules The Obama administration has postponed potentially life-saving regulation of toxic pollutants and smog for fear of stifling economic growth, reports the New York Times. The Environmental Protection Agency said this week that it would delay a decision on the regulations (which were supposed to become active over the next few weeks) until at least July 2011 in order to have another look at the science. The regulations to be postponed include a planned regulation of carbon emissions, a smog rule that would reduce air pollution and save thousand of lives per year (according to EPA analysis), and a rule that would reduce by half the amount of mercury and other poisons spewing from industrial boilers. The Obama administration has taken a relatively strident approach to reversing the environmental policies of the Bush administration but must now contend with a vocal and powerful incoming Republican opposition. Industry reps are thrilled at the development, but the slowdown on regulation may not be enough to appease some Republicans. The incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., has suggested the rules be jettisoned altogether, saying that they would "send a devastating economic shockwave coast to coast." Read original story in The New York Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/science/earth/10epa.html] | Friday, Dec. 10, 2010
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