While Republicans in Congress are objecting to proposed rules to curb climate change, the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency for the last four Republican presidents told Congress on Wednesday that such action is needed, reports The Associated Press.
Christine Todd Whitman, first EPA administrator under President George W. Bush, who resigned her post after disagreeing with the White House's direction on pollution rules, told Congress, "We have a scientific consensus around this issue. We also need a political consensus."
Also on hand was William Ruckelshaus, the nation's first EPA administrator under President Richard Nixon and who also served under President Ronald Reagan, William Reilly, who led the EPA under President George H.W. Bush, and Lee Thomas, who also served as administrator under Reagan.
The four former administrators "said the Obama administration had worked hard to make the proposal flexible and workable, using authority provided by Congress," AP reports. They "told lawmakers that global warming was similar to other serious environmental issues they confronted, such as industrial pollution, dangerous pesticides or water contamination. But tackling those issues enjoyed broad public support."
Ruckelshaus said, "Inherent in all of these problems was uncertain science and powerful economic interests resisting controls. The same is true of climate change. In all of the cases cited, the solutions to the problems did not result in the predicted economic and social calamity." (Read more)
Also of interest is a radio interview that Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter, had with Jo Ann Emerson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. She "says the NRECA is concerned about the environment and points out that they've voluntarily cut carbon emissions in half over the past decade without additional government regulations." To listen to the interview click here.
Christine Todd Whitman, first EPA administrator under President George W. Bush, who resigned her post after disagreeing with the White House's direction on pollution rules, told Congress, "We have a scientific consensus around this issue. We also need a political consensus."
Also on hand was William Ruckelshaus, the nation's first EPA administrator under President Richard Nixon and who also served under President Ronald Reagan, William Reilly, who led the EPA under President George H.W. Bush, and Lee Thomas, who also served as administrator under Reagan.
The four former administrators "said the Obama administration had worked hard to make the proposal flexible and workable, using authority provided by Congress," AP reports. They "told lawmakers that global warming was similar to other serious environmental issues they confronted, such as industrial pollution, dangerous pesticides or water contamination. But tackling those issues enjoyed broad public support."
Ruckelshaus said, "Inherent in all of these problems was uncertain science and powerful economic interests resisting controls. The same is true of climate change. In all of the cases cited, the solutions to the problems did not result in the predicted economic and social calamity." (Read more)
Also of interest is a radio interview that Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter, had with Jo Ann Emerson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. She "says the NRECA is concerned about the environment and points out that they've voluntarily cut carbon emissions in half over the past decade without additional government regulations." To listen to the interview click here.
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