Looser Emission Rules Rejected.

Source: Washington Post

A federal appeals court bitch-slapped the Bush administration in its 4-year effort to give a golden goose egg to coal-fired power plants.

The court basically proclaimed the changes would violate the "Clean Air Act," and only Congress could authorize such changes.

Go home and have nice day...try, try again.

A federal appeals court blocked the Bush administration's four-year effort to loosen emission rules for aging coal-fired power plants, unanimously ruling yesterday that the changes violated the Clean Air Act and that only Congress could authorize such revisions.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with officials from 14 states, including New York, California and Maryland, who contended that the rule changes--allowing older power plants, refineries and factories to upgrade their facilities without having to install the most advanced pollution controls--were illegal and could increase the amount of health-threatening pollution in the atmosphere.

It's nice when an appellate court does what our own EPA fails to do: protect our long-term health and the environment.

Score: little people-10, big business-0.

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