Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy
To Newly Released 2001 Memo
From EPA Administrator Whitman
To Vice President Cheney
About Proposed Clean Air Rules Changes
(New Source Review)
October 15, 2003

“The evidence is piling up that the White House crassly rewrote the clean air rules to protect big polluters at the public’s expense.  By now there are more smoking guns than in a Hollywood western.

“This memo shows that the White House was focused like a laser beam on getting polluters off the hook for breaking the law.  Administrator Whitman warned the Vice President then that weakening these rules would slow down and stop enforcement cases.  We now know that the White House ignored her advice and chose to protect these polluters instead of the public’s health.  It also shows that the Administration was more concerned all along about political damage than about the environmental damage its actions would cause.”

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Related Links:

2001 Memo From EPA Administrator Whitman To Vice President Cheney About Proposed Clean Air Rules Changes (New Source Review) [PDF]