The Administration is going to run out the clock on global warming

Today the Bush administration FINALLY responded to the Supreme Court case on global warming -- a case the Bush crowd lost nearly a year ago. Unfortunately, this plan appears to put EPA’s response on a very slow track.

EPA is going to issue an “advanced notice of proposed rulemaking.” (ANPRM in the high jargon of the government.)

Translation: any real action has been punted to the next administration.

Consider, for example, that EPA issued a similar notice in 2004 regarding pollution standards for diesel trains and ships. It took nearly four years for the agency to come out with actual standards, and that issue was relatively simple compared to this one.

!ADVERTISEMENT!

So this is a pretty blatant delaying tactic. (Some conservative groups had urged EPA to do exactly what it has announced it will do here.)

This underscores the need for Congress to step up and deal with global warming.

Here is some of what Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts had to say about it:

“The ‘A’ in this document should stand for ‘absurd”

“This is the latest quack from a lame-duck EPA intent on running out the clock on the entire Bush Presidency without doing a thing to combat global warming. The planet is sick, and instead of rushing to provide emergency medical attention, the Bush Administration has said ‘take 2 aspirin and call me after I leave office’.”