White House in climate change "cover up"-Sen Boxer
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White House in climate change "cover up"-Sen Boxer
Tue Jul 8, 2008 2:36pm EDT
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - A leading U.S. Senate Democrat accused the Bush administration on Tuesday of a "cover-up" aimed at stopping the Environmental Protection Agency from tackling greenhouse emissions.
"This cover-up is being directed from the White House and the office of the vice president," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
At issue is a preliminary finding by the EPA last December that "greenhouse gases may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public welfare," according to Jason Burnett, the agency's former associate deputy administrator who appeared at a news conference with Boxer.
Such a finding would be an early step toward government regulation aimed at protecting public health.
Burnett, who resigned on June 9, told Boxer's committee the White House tried pressuring him to retract an e-mail om which he detailed the finding. Burnett said he refused.
Boxer said that unless EPA documents were released, it was likely that within the next two weeks her committee would try to subpoena the material. She did not know whether Republicans on the panel would block the effort...
