[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mike Young

It’s the weekend, which means the Bush Administration’s out trying to gut environmental protections while nobody is reading the news. This weekend, while the press is focused on Scott McClellan’s testimony and presidential campaign flip-flopping from both candidates, what could have been a leading story was buried from the headlines: White House invokes executive privilege in EPA inquiry. Fortunately, the story was not completely ignored, but not enough people will ever hear about it.

by dday [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

We didn't need any more evidence that the Bush Administration uses the executive branch as a political instrument.  But this latest example shows that they will use federal agencies to work to oppose legislative efforts at the state level, making a complete mockery of the entire premise of federalism itself.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Henry Waxman has received information that the Department of Transportation has been lobbying members of Congress to oppose state efforts, sought by California and others, to regulate tailpipe emissions.  California is waiting for an EPA waiver to implement their tailpipe emissions proposal.  The Governor has threatened to sue the EPA if they don't receive that waiver.  The first roadblock that the EPA tried was to appeal to the Supreme Court by claiming that they didn't have the ability to regulate greenhouse gases, but in a landmark decision the Supreme Court said that they did.  So plan B, apparently, is to use the DOT to threaten legislators in automobile-producing districts that their local economies would be severly impacted by any efforts to regulate.  This excerpt is from a letter by Waxman to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters: