The race is on as the Bush Administration hurries to change U.S. Interior Department regulations to favor industry over the environment before leaving office.
The Department is trying to review and respond to 200,000 public comments in the next 32 hours, so that it can move forward with a rule change that would exclude greenhouse gases and the advice of federal biologists from decisions about whether dams, power plants and other federal projects could harm species.
Yesterday, the Department moved on a rule that favors the practice of mountaintop removal for coal extraction–one of the most environmentally damaging practices on the planet.
In May, the White House set a November 1 deadline for all final regulations, because a new administration could freeze any pending rules. But if new regulations are final before the next president takes office, reversing them would require going through the review and public comment period again, which could take months or even years.
Read the full Associated Press report.
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