Back in grad school, someone once joked that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had long ago ceased being about the environment, and certainly wasn’t doing much for its protection–so the EPA should just call itself the Agency (A).

Here’s one example of why:

“It has been a full year since the Supreme Court declared that greenhouse gases are pollutants which should be regulated by the federal government, but the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has refused to grant California’s waiver that would allow us and 19 other states to improve our quality of life by setting tougher vehicle emissions levels,” California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

”The authority of states to address greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles has been clearly and unequivocally supported — by the Supreme Court, a federal court decision in Vermont, and in December by a federal court here in California. On this issue, the U.S. EPA has failed to lead, it has failed to follow the states’ lead, and we are prepared to force it out of the way in order to protect the environment.” [link]

You know you’re an environmental lightweight when the Hummer driving, cigar-chewing Governator of California calls you on something. And sixteen other states (including Oregon) and a host of environmental groups are joining in California’s legal suit.

“EP”A head Stephen Johnson is well know as a political stooge working hard for President Bush–and he’s become quite unpopular:

The head of the agency, Administrator Stephen Johnson, has been under fire not only from state leaders and environmental groups, but also from Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives global warming committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Johnson, demanding he turn over long-sought documents on whether greenhouse gas pollution endangers human health and a draft plan to regulate these emissions.[link]

Not all EPA employees are political appointees, however; and Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth, is bluntly calling for Johnson to resign:

“Johnson repeatedly goes out of his way to disregard the opinions of EPA scientists and staff, making decisions with logic that is inconsistent, contradictory, and paradoxical,” Blackwelder said. “His decisions have recklessly endangered the planet. Instead of acting on behalf of the public interest, he has catered to corporate polluters and special interests. As the journal Nature has editorialized, Johnson is ’sabotaging’ the EPA ‘with reckless disregard for law, science, or the agency’s own rules.’ It is time for Johnson to go.”

Why does this matter to you? First, keep in mind the EPA’s mission:

“The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment.” [link]

To me, that means the EPA works to protect you and me and where we live, not the political and corporate-driven ends of the Bush Administration. To protect our health and the health of the environment. Your children too. The air, the water, the quality of the soil and what’s planted in it.

This isn’t the only instance, of course–Bush has transparently and repeatedly worked to dismantle much in the area of human and ecological health.

Oh, and did I mention Dick Cheney’s EPA efforts?