EPA

So, as we expected, no real question and no real answers so far in the "Ask EPA" online discussion today.

The beauty of such forums is the total control of questions that are posted and responded to, and the EPA's online forum today is, so far, a great example of that.

No questions posted yet on the State of California's petition to the EPA on regulating greenhouse gas emissions for new vehicles and by the looks of the beachballs being tossed to the EPA director, I expect none will be forthcoming.

When government officials bow to lobbyists it's business as usual, when government officials do the work of the lobbyist, it's borderline scandalous. Internal government documents released today show that lobbying in Washington has gotten much easier for auto manufacturers, with government officials doing it for them.

Email correspondence obtained by Rep. Henry Waxman, Chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee shows current Bush Administration appointees heading up a lobbying effort against California's application to implement their own motor vehicle standards.

According to Waxman, the effort was personally directed by the Bush-appointed Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, apparently approved by the Chief of Staff in the White House Council on Environmental Quality and coordinated by the auto industry.

Copies of the emails are attached at the bottom of this post.

With the Supreme Court ruling today on greenhouse gas emission regulations, readers have been asking us who were the parties opposing the ruling.

Not surprisingly, the list includes many third-party groups representing major auto manufacturers, heavy industry, oil and gas and electrical production. We thought it would be interesting to see where each of these organizations stood on the issues of environment and global warming. And interesting it was, for example, one of the opponents of new carbon emissions regulations is the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, yet their website states that, "members of the Alliance believe that it is prudent to reduce emissions, including carbon dioxide..."