bush: last 12 days

Although there are only a handful of days before the inauguration of our new President, the legacy of the Bush Administration will remain for days, months, and maybe years, to come.

In his final days, we have seen the passing of a handful of midnight rulings that will greatly impact the environment. In addition, it was announced today that the administration will ending efforts to come up with better fuel efficiency rules, leaving that to Obama. (Which may benefit from being in the better hands, honestly.)

Here is some information of the midnight rulings that have a negative impact on the environment.

Endangered Species Act: A rule change was put in place removing a provision that requires Fish and Wildlife Service scientists to make sure that endangered species won’t be harmed by federally approved logging, mining and road-building projects. The evaluations will now be handled by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration. But many argue that their best interest is in the approval and implementation of the new projects, not the species affected.

In a separate announcement, the Fish and Wildlife Service said that it will prevent the effect of greenhouse gases on threatened wildlife from being factored into the Endangered Species Act.

Oil-Shale: An issuance of new rules that take the first step toward tapping an estimated 800 billion barrels of oil trapped in sedimentary rock in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.

Oil shale is a sedimentary rock that contains trace amounts of oil, which can be extracted at high temperatures. But turning shale into usable oil is expensive, and the industry hasn’t been able to do it in a way that is profitable yet. There are also serious environmental consequences at every step. Digging the shale out of the earth damages the landscape, refining it dirties the air and both steps require massive amounts of water and energy.

Hazardous waste and air pollutants: The list of regulations about to get approved is astounding. Essentially, the EPA has opened the doors to a host of hazardous chemicals into our air and water. Here is a sampling:

-the definition of solid waste is revised
-fungicide limits are relaxed
-power plants are exempt from pollution controls
-ease of restirictions on power plants by national parks and wilderness
-hazardous waste to be used as fuel
-less reporting of animal pollution
-factory farms allowed to decide if they need a permit, or not, prior to dumping animal waste discharge
-lead standards lowered in air quality

and, believe it or not, the list goes on

Mining waste to be dumped in rivers and streams: The 25 year old ban disallowing the dumping of mining waste within 100 yards of rivers and streams has been lifted. Companies are allowed to place the bi-product of mining anywhere they like, even if it blocks the flow of important waters leading to towns or other ecosystems.

You can get a full listing of the midnight regulations from ProPublica