President Obama can change his mind, and does so regularly.
Many are stunned at his letter to the EPA on smog regulations.
How many have taken action to reverse this fail?
Consider this discussion on KO which points to this being worse than what George Bush did.
The President's action is fail in so many ways. Half of US families live in areas with unsafe air to breathe. WTF!
As the KO interview discusses, there are a few things Obama Admin has done toward keeping promises of the campaign, but these days the use of Republican language is both wrong and out of control.
Progressives can, and must, push back against this.
That predictable diary up today with the spamming of "The List"TM which, while it is full of centrist and corporatist interpretations and propaganda, does arguably show some ways that re-electing Obama is better than electing a Republican.
No, we will not be throwing Obama under the bus.
Nor will we sit by quietly and let this fail action stand unchallenged, even though it was taken by Obama.
WSJ happy dancing over Obama action?
Of course there are some that are 'happy' about it, though they will never be satisfied because it is Obama who is doing it:
Obama in the O-zone
Wonder of the ages: The President overrules EPA on a $90 billion rule.
The White House says President Obama made the call Thursday to defer the Environmental Protection Agency's new, strict standards on ozone emissions, but make no mistake: Yesterday's politically destructive "zero" for new-job growth (see above) lies at the center of this startling and welcome decision.
When doing what it does, the EPA, under current statute, is not supposed to consider the impact of its rules on jobs or costs. This allows the EPA's rulemakers to operate in a world free of the economic realities that govern most of the rest of life.
To recap: In fall 2009, Mr. Obama's EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, requested that the Bush Administration's proposed reduction in permitted ozone levels, measured in parts per million, be put on hold while her new regime reconsidered the rule. In 2008, the agency proposed reducing measurable ozone levels to 0.075 ppm. It doesn't sound like much, but wait.
How to Push Back Against This Obama Fail
Today the Sierra Club launched a forward moving action plan whose goal is to get the President to change his mind.
Tell Obama to Protect Clean Air!
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President Obama has asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the proposed new national ozone standards, delaying until at least 2013 a safeguard that would protect our families from dangerous smog pollution.
Half of U.S. families live in communities where the air is literally unsafe to breathe -- and President Obama is looking the other way.
These protections from smog would have improved our communities and saved billions of dollars in health costs.
Send a message to the White House and tell President Obama that cleaner air is not something we can afford to delay any further!
Personalize the message text on the right with your own words, if you wish.
Complete the form below with your information.
Click the Send Message button to send your message to: President Barack Obama
Those who are not Sierra Club members can call or send their own letter to the Whitehouse here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Here are Sierra Club suggestions to get you started:
I am shocked and extremely disappointed in your request to EPA Administrator Jackson to withdraw the draft of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
I expect your Administration to do everything in its power to stand up to coal and oil polluters who continue to cause illness and premature death in our communities.
A healthy economy requires clean air and healthy people. I urge you to remain vigilant in your support of strong environmental safeguards that protect our air and water from polluters and keep our communities thriving.
In addition to contacting the President, writing letters to the editor, etc, there will now have to be lawsuits funded to stop this fail. We can also support those.
Also, we have the great example Bill M and the tar sands protestors we can join and support.
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Why just sit here feeling angry and sick?
As Meteor Blades wrote last spring, the effing Republicans are coming up with ever more new and devious ways to attack our EPA :
The EPA has been under siege for some time, but never more so than now, with the likes of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his fossil fuel-funded American Solutions for Winning the Future having proposed the complete abolition of the agency earlier this year. Not that Gingrich isn't serious. But, like many of his and other proposals from the right, this one gives Republicans the chance to put forth plans look moderate in comparison because they only take few steps in the same extremist direction even though they have the same ultimate destination.
We should not let them, nor the President, get away with this.
Let's take some action, shall we?
Hugs.
12:47 PM PT: Please comment with suggestions other action ideas, law suits, etc that you are aware of that individuals and groups are pursuing. Thanks.
1:08 PM PT: NYTimes:
Stung by the President on Air Quality, Environmentalists Weigh Their Options
http://www.nytimes.com/...
"John D. Walke, clean air director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group based in New York, likened the ozone decision to a “bomb being dropped.”
Mr. Walke and representatives of other environmental groups saw the president’s actions as brazen political sellouts to business interests and the Republican Party, which regards environmental regulations as job killers and a brick wall to economic recovery.
The question for environmentalists became, what to do next?
“There is shock and chaos here,” Mr. Walke said, “so I do not know. I can’t answer that question.” But he added that his group would resume a smog lawsuit against the government that it had dropped because it had been lulled into believing that this administration would enact tougher regulations without being forced to do so by the courts. "