New Limit for Smog-Causing Emissions Isn’t as Strict as Many Had Expected

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/us/politics/epa-to-unveil-new-limit-for-smog-causing-ozone-emissions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a major new regulation on smog-causing emissions that spew from smokestacks and tailpipes, significantly tightening the current Bush-era standards but falling short of more stringent regulations that public health advocates and environmentalists had urged.

The current E.P.A. administrator, Gina McCarthy, who served as Ms. Jackson’s assistant administrator when she drafted a standard of 65 parts per million, said that lobbying and political concerns had no impact on her decision.

“Our job is to set science-backed standards that protect the health of the American people,” she said in a statement. “Today’s action is one of the most important measures we can take for improving public health, reducing the costs of illness and protecting our children’s health.”

“Disappointing is too mild a term,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch. “The big polluters won this time, for the most part,” he added. “This decision will tarnish the president’s environmental legacy. The national clean air standards are the heart of the Clean Air Act. This decision is heart failure.”