Thursday, October 13, 2011

Groups Sue After E.P.A. Fails to Shift Ozone Rules

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/science/earth/12epa.html?partner=rss&emc=rss


Five health and environmental groups sued the Obama administration on Tuesday over its rejection of a proposed stricter new standard for ozone pollution, saying the decision was driven by politics and ignored public health concerns.

The groups said that President Obama’s refusal to adopt the new standard was illegal and left in place an inadequate air quality rule from the Bush administration. Near the end of his presidency, George W. Bush overruled the Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific advisory panel and set the permissible ozone exposure at 75 parts per billion.

The current E.P.A. administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, wanted to set the standard at 70 parts per billion, near the maximum level recommended by the advisory panel. But President Obama rejected the proposal on Sept. 2, saying that compliance would be too costly and create too much regulatory uncertainty for industry. He ordered the E.P.A. to conduct further scientific studies and come up with a new proposal in 2013.

The decision infuriated environmental groups, who called it a betrayal, but cheered business leaders, who said that the ozone rule was one of the most onerous of the administration’s proposed environmental regulations.


Ground-level ozone is the main ingredient in smog, which is linked to premature deaths, heart attacks and lung ailments, including childhood asthma.

The standard rejected by Mr. Obama would have thrown hundreds of counties out of compliance with air quality regulations and imposed costs of $19 billion to $25 billion, according to E.P.A estimates. But the resulting health benefits would have been $13 billion to $37 billion, the agency calculated.

1. If you were one of the lawyers sueing the Obama Administration, what would be some of the reasons to do so, and why?

2. Do you think that this proposal, had it been passed, would have helped or worsened Americas Health care crisis? Why ?

Thanks, Matt

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9 comments:

  1. Ben ClermontOctober 16, 2011 at 2:50 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ben ClermontOctober 16, 2011 at 2:52 PM

    1. First of all, I wouldn't sue President Obama since I have absolutely no experience in this kind of thing. But if I did, I'd sue him because his decision causes more people to die from heart/lung disease and more children to suffer from asthma, although not directly.
    2. I don't think it would have helped because the costs are enormous and they could place that money somewhere else in health care. All and all, I think Obama's decision is good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Derius Gilpin-MarkOctober 16, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    1.If i was one of the lawyers suing Obama I'd sue him for causing alot of people to die and that alot of people dieing from heart and lung disease and children dieing from asthma.
    2. I think it would've help a little bit cause it would cover some of the costs but not all of the health care could be paid.

    ReplyDelete
  4. luis javier anconaOctober 16, 2011 at 7:58 PM

    1.i think obama should accept because with this proposal we would have a better ecological situation and the health off the people wil be better
    2.i think the people would be more healthy and there would be less respiration preoblems

    ReplyDelete
  5. berny gOctober 16, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    1-i will sue himn for causing more people to die from heart/lung disease.




    2- I thinks that it would helped to cover some of the cost of the health and care but not enough to cover them all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Eduardo JacoboOctober 16, 2011 at 8:19 PM

    1 I would sue president obama because he is the preasident of the united states and he is refusing to do something good for his country and his people.
    2 I would have helped to do the project because the profit saved thanks to the improvement of health would be bigger than the cost so i disagree with obamas decision.

    ReplyDelete
  7. jeantarOctober 16, 2011 at 9:45 PM

    1.i would sue him because what he decided would kill a lot of people would die of heart and lung disease

    2.it would have helped the care service even if it would'nt cover all the money they needed

    ReplyDelete
  8. Alex ClermontOctober 17, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    Suing President Obama might be a hard thing to do but even if he is sued the money he has to pay will most likely come from the people's pockets.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Th3 BuckNovember 12, 2011 at 8:41 AM

    1.I would actually sue him because many people might die and its better to sue him now or else the family's of the people who die from him not accepting the thing would eventually sue him for more money.

    2.If it were accepted, I would actually wait until the U.S.'s financial crisis is done or else they would be in even more of a bigger debt.

    And by the way this is Liam its just that i forgot my account password for the one before.

    ReplyDelete

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