Document Is Critical of E.P.A. on Clean Air

Typography
An internal government memorandum that came to light on Tuesday challenged the scientific and economic basis of a proposed Environmental Protection Agency finding that climate-altering gases are a threat to human health and welfare.

WASHINGTON — An internal government memorandum that came to light on Tuesday challenged the scientific and economic basis of a proposed Environmental Protection Agency finding that climate-altering gases are a threat to human health and welfare.

The undated and unsigned government document, marked "Deliberative — Attorney Client Privilege," was compiled by the White House Office of Management and Budget from comments offered by various agencies. A White House official said that many of the criticisms and suggestions came from holdovers from the administration of President George W. Bush and had been rejected by Obama appointees.

!ADVERTISEMENT!

The nine-page document was part of a multiagency review of the proposed E.P.A. finding and had little impact on the final agency document, which was issued on April 17, officials said. But opponents of the Obama administration’s approach to the regulation of heat-trapping gases seized on the memorandum in a flurry of press statements and in a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Article continues