Several environmental regulations that could cost consumers have been put on hold by an Obama administration looking ahead to the 2012 election. Rules involved auto emissions and soot have been stalled,
The Washington Post reports.
“Behind the scenes [the Environmental Protection Agency] is pressing to get rules out before the administration pulls up the drawbridge and goes into campaign mode,” Joe Stanko, with law firm Hunton & Williams, told the Post. “It will be a battle to see how far down EPA’s shopping list they get.”
White House spokesman Clark Stevens said the administration is looking to balance economic and environmental considerations.
However, Ducks Unlimited’ Paul Schmidt was among a group of conservationists who pressed the administration in January to complete work on rules that would place stricter pollution controls on millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of streams.
“They were sensitive to and supportive of our request, but they were noncommittal,” Schmidt said.
“EPA has just been a political target. It’s almost that they’re weary of these attacks, and they don’t want to issue a regulation that causes another headline,” Schmidt added.
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