Anyboody here surprised?The White House Council on Environmental Quality has convened a series of meetings with federal regulators over the past nine months as the Obama administration shapes environmental impact analyses for the building of terminals to export coal to Asia.
Anything is in bounds for Champ and his people if it hurts the American economy. As the famous man once said, don't delay the revolution...
While CEQ downplays its involvement in the deliberations, a former CEQ official and other analysts suggest the White House role highlights the sensitive policy issues at stake, as the administration is under pressure to assess the possible climate change impact of burning U.S. coal in Asia.
No doubt they'll consider the cost to US jobs lost by burning Australian coal in Asia.
At issue is how broadly the government should extend its analysis: whether to consider the impacts of each of the Pacific Northwest export terminals through narrowly tailored individual environmental impact statements or to assess their cumulative effects together, which would allow for a comprehensive analysis of possible climate change impacts.
CEQ has declined to say what it has been telling the agency regulators, and emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act have been heavily redacted. Nonetheless, in the next few weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to announce a narrow approach to the environmental analyses, judging from statements the corps has made in recent months and unredacted portions of the emails.