[OKC] As U.S. Tightens Environmental Rules, Cash-Strapped States Loosen Them

[Shauna Struby]

Fyi .

 


As U.S. Tightens Environmental Rules, Cash-Strapped States Loosen Them


- By  <http://www.motherjones.com/authors/josh-harkinson> Josh Harkinson |
Thu February 19, 2009 10:41 AM PST

 

The stimulus package is an environmental <http://www.motherjones.com/>
boon, the EPA will probably regulate
<http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/02/regulating-carbon-dioxide>
carbon, and Sen. Harry Reid wants to take a green pen to the Energy
<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/02/18/reid_signals_aggressive_focu
s.html>  Bill. It looks like the best week in years for
environmentalists--until, that is, you step out of the Beltway. To help
close massive budget deficits, states across the country are weakening
environmental rules.

 

Exhibit A is California, where today legislators closed
<http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/02/california-budget-watch>  a
$41 billion budget gap in part by nixing air pollution rules that would have
cost the housing industry millions. The measure delays requirements for
builders to retrofit diesel construction equipment, slashing by 17 percent
the emissions savings that the state had hoped to achieve by 2014. The move
will probably prevent Los Angeles, the San Joaquin Valley, and other highly
polluted regions from meeting federal air quality deadlines. It will also
reduce the "green jobs" the state had hoped to create by retrofitting old
equipment. The Sierra Club's California director told the LA
<http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-diesel19-2009feb19,0,6443128.story>
Times: "With the magnitude of the forces at play here, the environmental
issues have taken a back seat to taxes."

 

California's move follows on the heels of other states. In Oklahoma
<http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9685M1G0.htm> :

 

State agencies that protect public water supplies, manage the state's
flood plains and protect Oklahomans from the dangers of hazardous waste
would bear some of the biggest cuts under Gov. Brad Henry's proposed
state budget for the upcoming year.

 

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, which monitors the
state's air and water quality as well as solid, hazardous and low-level
radioactive waste, lost almost $2 million in appropriations from its
current $9.7 million budget, a reduction of 20 percent.

 

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board, responsible for setting water quality
standards, enforcing dam safety regulations and managing Oklahoma's flood
plains, lost more than $1.1 million from its $4.6 million budget, a 25
percent reduction.

 

More here :::
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009/02/us-tightens-environmental-rul
es-cash-strapped-states-loosen-them 

 

 

::: shauna lawyer struby

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sustainableokc.org/pipermail/okc-sustainableokc.org/attachments/20090222/049d0cf7/attachment.htm>