The Clean Air Villains of the May 2004 are:


REHNQUIST, AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER

From the web site Clean Air Trust:

"(Washington, D.C.) - The non-profit Clean Air Trust today named Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and American Electric Power (AEP) the "clean air villains of the month" for May 2004."

"The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio is scheduled to hear the trial over whether AEP violated the Clean Air Act's New Source Review (NSR) program at 11 of its power plants. The trial is set for January 2005."

AEP is one of the nation's most notorious and recalcitrant air polluters. It recently declared it would contest a Bush administration proposal aimed at a moderate cleanup of power plant emissions over a long time period. This attempts to change an already lengthy time period for power plants to quit shooting fine particle soot into the air. This soot has been linked to tens of thousands of premature deaths each year. AEP has cases pending in both federal and state courts.

The Clean Air Trust goes on to say: "In addition to fighting the Justice Department on the NSR case, they earned this dubious distinction because Rehnquist hopped the AEP corporate jet last weekend to visit Columbus, Ohio, for dedication of a new judicial center."

But wait, wasn't it Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist that just ordered a study of federal judicial ethics, following intense criticism of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for taking a hunting trip with his friend, Vice President Dick Cheney? Does this study include his own ethics?

Are ya getting cranky, too?
cross posted at Cranky Lady

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