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NTEU CHAPTER 280 - U.S.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS DESCRIPTION NEWSLETTER CURRENT ISSUES PRESS RELEASES LINKS MEMBERS PAGE HISTORY SITE INDEX
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PRESS RELEASE ON EPA'S STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT Bill Hirzy, Senior Vice President, NTEU CHAPTER 280 6/20/2003 The New York Times published an article by Andre Revkin and Katharine Seelye on June 19 that lambasted a draft report on the state of the environment that EPA planned to publish the week of June 23. The Times article said that the report was commissioned in 2001 by Administrator Whitman to give a comprehensive picture of what is known about environmental problems, where data gaps exist, and what the implications are for human health and the environment of those problems. The Times reported that when the draft went to the White House for review, it was returned with a long section describing risks from rising global temperatures whittled down to a few noncommittal paragraphs. Reference to studies linking rising temperatures to greenhouse gas emissions from stationary and mobile sources were stricken from the report by the White House, along with reference to the 1999 study showing temperatures over the past decade had risen sharply in comparison with the last 1000 years. Reference to the latter study was replaced with one to an American Petroleum Institute report questioning global warming. According to the Times article, Administrator Whitman commented that, "..rather than go out with something half-baked or not put out the whole report, we felt it was important for us to get this out....there is a lot of really good information that people can use to measure our success." The Times said that internal memoranda among staff said the section on climate, "no longer accurately represents scientific consensus on climate change," and "EPA will take responsibility and severe criticism from the science and environmental communities for poorly representing the science." These two sets of comments exemplify the difference between the professional Civil Service and those in the administration who care not one whit about public service or scientific integrity. Ms. Whitman remains the loyalist to the bitter end, defending the moral bankruptcy at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, while the Civil Service fights to get the truth into the hands of the American people despite the corruption of its current political leaders. For those us who lived through the years of Ann Gorsuch, Rita Lavelle, James Watt and that whole crew, this is all too familiar. Environmental protection by NewSpeak - clear-cut forests to save them, Clear Skies by pole-axing new source performance standards, and now hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil about green house gas impacts on climate. If the administration gets its way though, those pesky Civil Service employees will be out the door in a few years, replaced by contractors who will not have the temerity to write memos like those cited above nor the inclination or courage to get the word out to the New York Times when outrages like this happen again - and again and again. Unite and Resist! |