Behind the Closed Door

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http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17440

 

 

Behind the Closed Door

 

By BushGreenWatch

December 22, 2003

 

Bush Seeks Approval for Secret Meetings, Polluting Trucks

 

 

 

The Supreme Court yesterday granted the Bush Administration's requests to

intervene in two important environmental cases the White House wants overturned.

 

 

 

The first one involves whether the White House can continue to keep secret

records of Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force, which shaped the

controversial energy bill currently stalled in the Senate. The second case

involves whether the administration should have to conduct an environmental

study before issuing permits to trucks from Mexico.

 

 

 

In the energy task force case, public interest groups won access to some

information about who was on the task force and how it operated, but Cheney

appealed.

 

 

 

Created by presidential executive order in 2001, the task force routinely met

behind closed doors and recommended a host of industry-backed proposals, such as

opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and many other public lands to oil

and gas drilling. Cheney has repeatedly refused to reveal who his group met

with, even to congress's investigative arm, the General Accounting Office.

 

 

 

In the Mexican trucks case, a federal appeals court ruled in January that the

administration violated environmental laws when it took steps to grant Mexican

trucks full access to U.S. highways without adequately reviewing their

environmental impact. The Bush Administration then asked the Supreme Court to

step in, even though the Department of Transportation had already begun to

comply with the court order.

 

 

 

At least 30,000 Mexico-domiciled diesel trucks could enter the U.S. every year,

including older, pre-1994 trucks – the most egregious polluters. A study shows

that by 2010, trucks from Mexico will emit twice as much particulate matter and

nitrogen oxides as U.S. trucks.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, one of the Supreme Court justices to decide " Cheney v. U.S. District

Court " was the guest of the vice president last week. According to the

Washington Post, Justice Antonin Scalia joined Administration leaders

celebrating the holidays at the Cheneys' Christmas party in the vice president's

residence last Thursday.

 

 

 

 

 

EPA Works Out Secret Deal with Factory Farms

 

 

 

Perhaps taking its cue from the Cheney Energy Task Force, the EPA has been

holding secret meetings with the agribusiness industry this year, putting

together a " sweetheart deal " with lobbyists to exempt factory farms from Clean

Air Act and Superfund regulations.

 

 

 

The EPA has proposed offering " an industry-wide pardon " for air pollution

violations to massive hog, cattle and chicken farms, says Sierra Club attorney

Barclay Rogers.

 

 

 

" This deal is being negotiated behind closed doors, and the Sierra Club and

other environmental groups are trying to pry those doors open through a lawsuit

under the Freedom of Information Act, " Rogers told BushGreenwatch.

 

 

 

The lawsuit demands the Bush Administration divulge information about the secret

meetings between EPA and industry. Even though documents had been leaked to

environmental groups, EPA denied the existence of a deal until after the lawsuit

was filed in September. The plaintiffs have asked the court to order EPA to

immediately turn over its records.

 

 

 

A copy of the deal obtained by environmentalists indicates that EPA would agree

not to pursue factory farms for polluting if they paid a $500 penalty and agreed

to take part in a study to monitor emissions.

 

 

 

Localities, some of which have been unable to meet air quality standards because

of farm emissions, have complained.

 

 

 

" The result would be an evisceration of states' and localities' ability to

address air quality problems emanating from agricultural operations, " two

organizations representing state and local air quality officials said in a

letter to EPA.

 

 

 

A small number of corporate farming giants dominate the U.S. meat industry – in

2001, for instance, 75 percent of all hogs were packed into just 9 percent of

U.S. hog farms, resulting in roughly 5,000 hogs per operation. With so many

animals – and manure – concentrated onto so few farms, they are a major source

of hazardous gas emissions and particulate matter proven to cause lung ailments

and even premature death.

 

 

 

BushGreenwatch provides daily updates on the Bush Administration's assault on

our environment and public health.

 

 

 

 

 

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