It's time to overhaul the old adage that bad things happen in threes. When it comes to the most recent State of the Union address, bad things come in 16 word utterances that roll off the president's tongue like the hissing of an asp. First there was the false allegations that Iraq attempted to buy uranium from Niger. Now it's the promise that the Clear Skies Act 'mandates a 70 percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years.'

According to a recent Tom Paine report, four members of Congress have signed a letter to President Bush calling into question the validity of this statement. Citing an EPA analysis of the Clear Skies Act -- available prior to the State of the Union address -- Representatives Thomas H. Allen, Edward J. Markey, Frank Pallone Jr., and Lois Capps confirmed that the president's proposal would achieve 'slightly less than a 65 percent reduction in emissions' in an 18-year period. With a bottom line of three years overdue and 1,260,000 tons above caps, the representatives noted that the EPA findings are 'startlingly different than [his] original assurance.'

The representatives have requested that Bush either correct his statement or provide 'Congress and the American people with any additional analytical work' supporting his promise. They alternatively recommended that President Bush direct the EPA to modify the Clear Skies Act to reflect the figures indicated in his original statement.
-- Erin Ferdinand

Go there>>Lies in the Air

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