Image via Wikipedia
From: The Daily Caller
In a report released Wednesday (at Sen. Inhofe’s request, dating back to April) the inspector general found that the EPA failed to follow the Data Quality Act and its own peer review process when it issued the determination that greenhouse gases cause harm to “public health and welfare.”
From Yahoo today:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration cut
corners before concluding that climate-change pollution can endanger human
health, a key finding underpinning costly new regulations, an internal
government watchdog said Wednesday.
…
The report said EPA should have followed a more extensive review process for a technical paper supporting its determination that greenhouse gases pose dangers to human health and welfare, a finding that ultimately compelled it to issue controversial and expensive regulations to control greenhouse gases for the first time.
“While it may be debatable what impact, if any, this had on EPA’s finding, it is clear that EPA did not follow all the required steps,” said Inspector Arthur A. Elkins, Jr. in a statement Wednesday.
The EPA and White House said the greenhouse gas document did not require more independent scrutiny because the scientific evidence it was based on already had been thoroughly reviewed. The agency did have the document vetted by 12 experts, although one of those worked for EPA.
“The report importantly does not question or even address the science used or the conclusions reached,” the EPA said in a statement. The environmental agency said its work “followed all appropriate guidance,” a conclusion supported by the White House budget official who wrote the peer review guidelines in 2005.
…
The greenhouse gas decision — which marked a reversal from the Bush administration — was announced in December 2009, a week before President Barack Obama headed to international negotiations in Denmark on a new treaty to curb global warming. At the time, progress was stalled in Congress on a new law to reduce emissions in the United States.
Online:
EPA
inspector general’s report: http://www.epa.gov/oig/
Full report at
Senate EPW: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=e0584e33-d3da-4fba-b95a-e93548105e09