Mercurial Rulemaking

Mercurial Rulemaking

Frank O'Donnell

March 22, 2005

The Washington Post reported this morning that the EPA ignored an EPA-sponsored report saying that enforcing the existing mercury regulations would yield more than a 600 percent return on the cost of cleanup. Instead, they chose to relax the rules on mercury for another 20 years, condemning a new generation of children to this poison. Frank O'Donnell gives the behind-the-scenes story.

Frank O'Donnell is president of Clean Air Watch, a 501 (c) 3 non-partisan, non-profit organization aimed at educating the public about clean air and the need for an effective Clean Air Act.

You almost have to pity Steve Johnson, recently tapped by President Bush to head the Environmental Protection Agency. A scientist and career EPA employee, Johnson was put in place to create the perception that major EPA actions were based on science instead of politics. But right out of the gate, Johnson was forced to swallow hard and do exactly what his Bush administration predecessors did—make a big decision based not on science, but on a White House dictate aimed at befriending political supporters.