NPR reports uncovering internal documents suggesting that EPA administrator Steven Johnson ignored the advice of EPA scientific advisors when he rejected tougher air quality standards that could save thousands of lives each year.
NYU Med school professor Morton Lippmann, one of the 12 experts on the panel ignored by Johnson, had this to say about the effects of poor air quality: "You can mention a few other things that affect public health more, like cigarette smoking, but you have to get to an issue like that before you get something with more impact than the effect of fine particles on mortality." Lippmann has gone on record in a letter to Stephen Johnson stating that the weak standard "does not provide an adequate margin of safety requisite to protect the public health." Lippmann also feels the EPA has gone out of its way to withhold strong scientific evidence from the public in this matter. [ NPR ]
