On Thursday Donald Trump’s EPA, led by oil servant Scott Pruitt, did away with a decades-old thorn in the oil and gas industry’s side known as the “once-in always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act. AP reports that while this is not been officially filed, it’s happening, and it stinks.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it was withdrawing the “once-in always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act, which dictated how major sources of hazardous air pollutants are regulated. Under the EPA’s new interpretation, such “major sources” as coal-fired power plants can be reclassified as “area sources” when their emissions fall below mandated limits, subjecting them to differing standards.
What’s the reasoning for doing away with this mandate? The much loathed “regulations” on industry, of course. But how are they spinning this assault on clean air? The policy, according to the EPA, has been read all wrong for the past couple of decades.
“This guidance is based on a plain language reading of the statute that is in line with EPA’s guidance for other provisions of the Clean Air Act,” said Bill Wehrum, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “It will reduce regulatory burden for industries and the states, while continuing to ensure stringent and effective controls on hazardous air pollutants.”
Prior to his confirmation by the GOP-dominated Senate in November, Wehrum worked as a lawyer representing fossil fuel and chemical companies. The American Petroleum Institute was among the industry groups that had called for the longstanding policy to be scraped.
Wehrum was hand-picked by EPA chief Scott Pruitt and used to work for the George W. Bush administration—so you know he is as genuine as a four-dollar-bill. Reuters published a statement from someone who believes that clean air is something we should want to maintain as humans.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, said the decision “is among the most dangerous actions that the Trump EPA has taken yet against public health.”
“This move drastically weakens protective limits on air pollutants like arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxins that cause cancer, brain damage, infertility, developmental problems and even death,” John Walke, director of a clean air program for the NRDC, said in a statement.
One of the myriad problems with having a raging and poisonous dumpster fire running our government is that it pollutes everything, figuratively and literally.