Republicans Try to Stop EPA Pollution Regulation

This is madness. Without regulation, business will pollute until there's nothing left to pollute. It's that's simple.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives intend to try to prohibit the U.S. environmental agency from regulating greenhouse gases, officials said, in a sharp challenge to the Obama administration.
Officials said legislation to be offered Wednesday would nullify all of the steps the Environmental Protection Agency has taken on the issue, including its finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health. More at the AP

BP Ordered to Use Less Toxic Oil Dispersant

From the EPA:

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a directive requiring BP to identify and use a less toxic and more effective dispersant from the list of EPA authorized dispersants. Dispersants are a chemical used to break up oil into small droplets so that they are more easily degraded.

The directive requires BP to identify a less toxic alternative – to be used both on the surface and under the water at the source of the oil leak – within 24 hours and to begin using the less toxic dispersant within 72 hours of submitting the alternative.

If BP is unable to identify available alternative dispersant products, BP must provide the Coast Guard and EPA with a detailed description of the alternative dispersants investigated, and the reason they believe those products did not meet the required standards.

EPA’s directive to BP can be found here: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/dispersants.html

While the dispersant BP has been using is on the agency’s approved list, BP is using this dispersant in unprecedented volumes and, last week, began using it underwater at the source of the leak – a procedure that has never been tried before. Because of its use in unprecedented volumes and because much is unknown about the underwater use of dispersants, EPA wants to ensure BP is using the least toxic product authorized for use. We reserve the right to discontinue the use of this dispersant method if any negative impacts on the environment outweigh the benefits.

On May 15, EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard authorized BP to use dispersants underwater at the source of the Deepwater Horizon leak. As the dispersant is used underwater, BP is required to do constant, scientifically rigorous monitoring so EPA scientists may determine the dispersant’s effectiveness and impact on the environment, water and air quality, and human health. EPA is posting the information BP collects during the monitoring to ensure the public has access to this data.

Obama Administration Launches Websites for Energy, EPA, Interior

A trio of federal agencies has launched new Web sites to comply with President Obama's Open Government directive.

U.S. EPA posted a new Web site that links to several of its databases on water quality, toxic releases and enforcement activity; the Interior Department has its own site that encourages public participation and talks about transparency; and the Energy Department is encouraging a "national conversation on energy."

Obama announced the Open Government directive in December in an attempt to increase transparency within federal agencies. NYT

The EPA's new site
Department of Interior
DoE

Lisa Jackson to Head EPA

I'll tell you what -- Obama has stuck to his promise of a diverse and brilliant administration. Let's hope none of them turn into Blagos.
Lisa Jackson is currently chief of staff to the governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine. Prior, she was head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

AP: Lisa Jackson is in line to become the first African-American to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
President-elect Barack Obama intends to announce Jackson as EPA administrator in the coming weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances that derail his plans, according to Democratic officials close to the transition.
Jackson, a Princeton University-educated chemical engineer, would take the helm at the agency at a time of record-low morale and when it is still grappling with how to respond to a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said it could regulate the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
During the Bush administration, the White House has at times overruled the advice of the EPA's scientific advisers and the agency's staff on issues ranging from air pollution to global warming.
Supporters say Jackson, 46, has the experience to steer the agency down a new path.

Lisa Jackson in Wikipedia
Opposition to Lisa Jackson
Plenty Magazine on Jackson