Earth Equity News

Death of a Boondoggle. Editorial, NYTimes, September 5, 2008. "In a victory for clean water and wetlands protection, the Environmental Protection Agency has killed a crazy yet seemingly indestructible scheme hatched more than 60 years ago by Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers to build a giant pumping station in the Mississippi Delta north of Vicksburg. Billed as a flood-control project by its Senate champions, the pumps would have cost $220 million and drained thousands of acres of valuable wetlands and hardwood forests merely to serve the interests of a handful of soybean farmers who already drink liberally from the public trough. The wetlands marked for destruction already provide considerable flood protection. The project had been kept alive by a succession of Mississippi legislators and by other members of Congress eager to protect their own deals with the corps. The retirement of one backer, Senator Trent Lott, apparently gave Stephen Johnson, the E.P.A. administrator, the opening and the courage that he needed to kill it. Mr. Johnson -- along with agency scientists and environmental groups like American Rivers who kept up the pressure -- deserves further credit for standing up to the corps, which few of his predecessors have been willing to do. Under the Clean Water Act, the agency can technically overrule the corps, but rarely does." Editor's note: Stephen Johnson has been much criticized (we believe deservedly) for overruling his staff and capitulating to Bush administration demands that EPA negate the relatively tough vehicle emissions standards passed by California and other states. It is heartening to so see the positive actions that he has now taken regarding the Mississippi Delta and the new EPA standards for lawn mowers and boats.