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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'>Fyi …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>As U.S. Tightens
Environmental Rules, Cash-Strapped States Loosen Them<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:#5E7185'>— By <a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/authors/josh-harkinson"><b><i><span
style='color:#5E7185'>Josh Harkinson</span></i></b></a> | Thu February 19, 2009
10:41 AM PST<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:#5E7185'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>The stimulus package is an <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/">environmental
boon</a>, the EPA will probably <a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/02/regulating-carbon-dioxide">regulate
carbon</a>, and Sen. Harry Reid wants to take a green pen to the <a
href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/02/18/reid_signals_aggressive_focus.html">Energy
Bill</a>. 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 <em><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>weakening</span></em>
environmental rules.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>Exhibit A is California, where today legislators <a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/02/california-budget-watch">closed</a>
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 <a
href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-diesel19-2009feb19,0,6443128.story">LA
Times</a>: "With the magnitude of the forces at play here, the
environmental issues have taken a back seat to taxes."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>California's move follows on the heels of other states. In <a
href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9685M1G0.htm">Oklahoma</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>State agencies that
protect public water supplies, manage the state's<br>
flood plains and protect Oklahomans from the dangers of hazardous waste<br>
would bear some of the biggest cuts under Gov. Brad Henry's proposed<br>
state budget for the upcoming year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>The Oklahoma Department
of Environmental Quality, which monitors the<br>
state's air and water quality as well as solid, hazardous and low-level<br>
radioactive waste, lost almost $2 million in appropriations from its<br>
current $9.7 million budget, a reduction of 20 percent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>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.</span><span
style='font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'>More here
::: <a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009/02/us-tightens-environmental-rules-cash-strapped-states-loosen-them">http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009/02/us-tightens-environmental-rules-cash-strapped-states-loosen-them</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";
color:black'>::: shauna </span><span style='font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";
color:#913200'>lawyer</span><span style='font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";
color:black'> struby</span><b><span style='font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";
color:#913200'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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