{"id":13203,"date":"2008-06-25T08:37:09","date_gmt":"2008-06-25T15:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/06\/25\/and-in-the-category-of-la-la-la-la-i-cant-hear-you.html"},"modified":"2008-06-25T08:37:09","modified_gmt":"2008-06-25T15:37:09","slug":"and_in_the_category_of_la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/06\/25\/and_in_the_category_of_la.html","title":{"rendered":"And in the category of “La-la-la-la-I-can’t-hear-you …”"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do you do when you don’t want to read the bad news? You refuse to read it. And if you’re really <\/em>ballsy, you tell <\/em>people you won’t read it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened, senior E.P.A. officials said last week.<\/p>\n

The document, which ended up in e-mail limbo, without official status, was the E.P.A.\u2019s answer to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that required it to determine whether greenhouse gases represent a danger to health or the environment, the officials said.<\/p>\n

This week, more than six months later, the E.P.A. is set to respond to that order by releasing a watered-down version of the original proposal that offers no conclusion. Instead, the document reviews the legal and economic issues presented by declaring greenhouse gases a pollutant.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nice. Can the Administration be fined for Contempt of Court? (I mean, legal contempt, not the obvious contempt they already hold.) I suppose they could be — if such fines didn’t have to be carried out by (drum roll) the Administration itself.<\/p>\n

\n

Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, refused to comment on discussions between the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency. Asked about changes in the original report, Mr. Fratto said, \u201cIt\u2019s the E.P.A. that determines what analysis it wants to make available\u201d in its documents.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fascinating that when it comes to requests to review communications, the Adminstration claims Executive Privilege and that it is a “unitary executive” that acts as a single, unregulatable agency. But when it comes to this sort of thing, the White House fobs it all off on the EPA. Again, nice. And, to illustrate:<\/p>\n

\n

Simultaneously, Mr. Waxman\u2019s committee is weighing its response to the White House\u2019s refusal to turn over subpoenaed documents relating to the E.P.A.\u2019s handling of recent climate-change and air-pollution decisions. The White House, which has turned over other material to the committee, last week asserted a claim of executive privilege over the remaining documents.<\/p>\n

In an interview on Sunday, Mr. Fratto, the White House spokesman, said the committee chairmen did not understand the legal precedent underlying executive privilege. \u201cThere is a long legal history supporting the principle that the president should have the candid advice of his advisers,\u201d Mr. Fratto said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

In other words, “If we don’t want to take the blame, it’s those other guys. But if you want to talk to those other guys — you can’t, because they’re really us.”<\/p>\n

\n

White House pressure to ignore or edit the E.P.A.\u2019s climate-change findings led to the resignation of one agency official earlier this month: Jason Burnett, the associate deputy administrator. Mr. Burnett, a political appointee with broad authority over climate-change regulations, said in an interview that he had resigned because \u201cno more constructive work could be done\u201d on the agency\u2019s response to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThe next administration will have to face what this one did not.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From your lips to God’s ear, Mr Burnett.<\/p>\n

(hat tip to Margie for the post title) <\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do you do when you don’t want to read the bad news? You refuse to read it. And if you’re really ballsy, you tell people you won’t read it….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":132555,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/14\/protecting-us-from-the-environment.html","url_meta":{"origin":13203,"position":0},"title":"Protecting us from the Environment","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 14-Jan-17 6:04pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Definitely on the Top 3 Worst Trump Nominations (based on attitude and potential impact) list. Scott Pruitt, Trump\u2019s E.P.A. Pick, Backed Industry Donors Over Regulators - The New York Times If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Pruitt could be in charge of policing industries that have long helped advance his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132177,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/07\/trump-names-scott-pruitt-for-epa.html","url_meta":{"origin":13203,"position":1},"title":"Trump names Scott Pruitt for EPA","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 7-Dec-16 12:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Pruitt is currently Attorney General of Oklahoma. His qualifications seem to be opposition to federal environmental regulation, esp. that around climate change, and he's been a close ally of oil and gas companies (and received campaign support from them).Yeah, he's just who we need helping to Protect the Environment. Donald\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24879,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/26\/because-reducing-mercury-and-particulate-pollution-is-really-about-killing-jobs.html","url_meta":{"origin":13203,"position":2},"title":"Because reducing mercury and particulate pollution is really about KILLING JOBS","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 26-Dec-11 10:15pm","format":false,"excerpt":"You would think reducing mercury levels and soot particles in power plant emissions would be a good thing. And it is. Except, of course, that it's all about KILLING JOBS and DESTROYING AMERICA and TURNING POWER OVER TO UN TECHNOCRATS. Except, of course, it's not. #ddtbReshared post from +Jim Feig\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":137584,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/03\/its-not-the-tsars-fault-its-his-bad-advisors.html","url_meta":{"origin":13203,"position":3},"title":""It's not the Tsar's fault — it's his bad advisors!"","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 3-Jan-19 7:56pm","format":false,"excerpt":"That's was the excuse the peasantry gave to the Tsar in Russia. The Tsar loves us. He's wise. He's holy. All the bad stuff that happens? Bad advisors.And now we have pro-Trump folk in Trump Country who see the Trump Administration doing awful stuff, slow-walking or rolling back EPA regulations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13209,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/06\/24\/home_depot_will_recycle_c.html","url_meta":{"origin":13203,"position":4},"title":"Home Depot will recycle compact fluorescents","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 24-Jun-08 9:26am","format":false,"excerpt":"Because compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) contain trace amounts of mercury, there are concerns about their broader use (saving energy and reducing heat). Now Home Depot has announced it will recycle...","rel":"","context":"In "Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/science\/environment"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41879,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/30\/the-supreme-court-deals-another-jab-at-coal.html","url_meta":{"origin":13203,"position":5},"title":"The Supreme Court deals another jab at coal","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 30-Apr-14 4:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It backed, 6-2, an EPA rule that basically said, \"Hey, your pollution doesn't stop at the state line.\" \u00a0I know, crazy idea, right?Coal-power state reps were ticked off that this will add to the cost of coal-fired energy, because the plants will have to add further scrubbers. What's important is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}