This was a good decision:

1. it gets reviewed mandatorily in 2013 anyway
2. right now DOE and EPA are arguing over this jurisdictionally. EPA has a lot of regs coming online that will change the energy mix rapidly, but there’s not plan to replace (that’s not EPA’s job). So the Admin is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: coordinate the agencies.

Cue yet more screaming from the “Obama done sold us out!” crowd.  Lots of peni being snatched today.

It’s already started, SOAS, and it’s fucking ridiculous.

I love one of the comments in that thread:

All of this names are very electable in a general election if Democrats are the only ones allowed to vote.

I will need to use that often in the near future, I’d imagine.

The squealing at GOS and the like has reached a pitch where dogs are now throat-sore from barking.

Face it, Obama hates liberals, progressives, Democrats, aristocrats, theocrats, bureaucrats and all crats in between.

Face it: Progressives have signed on to the same “Victory Through Suicide” program as the PUMAs did back in ‘08.

They don’t want a President; they want a martyr.

I’d be a little more sanguine if it weren’t for this:

Tomorrow is a Spare The Air day
Ground-level ozone pollution is forecast to reach 154-Unhealthy on the Air Quality Index (AQI)

Friday, Sep 2: 129 AQI - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (Ozone) Saturday, Sep 3: 154 AQI - Unhealthy (Ozone)

Yesterday’s Regional Maximum:
Thursday, Sep 1: 114 AQI - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (Ozone)

Sucks balls that we can’t have it both ways, but there wasn’t any other decision to make.  If he said he was OK with killing jobs in return for cleaner air, he’d be impeached.

@Strange, I sent an email to rumproast with some cool science stuff.

How does that get “mandatory” renewal in 2013?

“Review”, not “renewal”. Common practice for Federal regs.

I’d be a little more sanguine if it weren’t for this:

Obviously you have food and electricity, or that wouldn’t seem like a big deal. ;->

@B — Thanks. KK forwarded it to me last night. Cool stuff. I’ll be in touch.

You can try to brush this one off your shoulders, roasters, but now Obama has given the perfect opening to the Nader Buffet of Primary Challengers.  And in Nevada, remember, you can go back to the buffet and vote as often as you like.

If I’ve lost Bérubé, I’ve lost Middle America.

If I’ve lost Middle America I’ve lost Bilbo and if I’ve lost Bilbo all I’m left with is trolls.

Yeah, the OTHER person I heard call Obama weak this morning was Joe Scarborough whilst chatting with a resurrected PUMA.

It’s like 2008 all over again except the role of Taylor Marsh is being played by Digby.

One of my FB friends (who isn’t really a firebagger, just emotional - I let it slide) was going on about how this is just another “heartbreaking disappointment.” I think that’s maybe the problem—when you start thinking that the people who get elected top of the ticket in a country founded on genocide, slavery, and capitalism are a good bet for your emotional validation, you got troubles, my friend.

when you start thinking that the people who get elected top of the ticket in a country founded on genocide, slavery, and capitalism are a good bet for your emotional validation, you got troubles, my friend.

Well, dammit then, Oblo, who do I have to murder, enslave, and/or buy off to get my motherfucking pony?!

When I first started reading Liberal blogs, I thought they hated George Bush. Now I realize they just hate Presidents in general.

Lowkey is back!

Obviously you have food and electricity, or that wouldn’t seem like a big deal. ;->

Also, too, clearly we just need fewer “sensitive groups.” It’s a California thang.

Lowkey is back!

What?! GET HIM!

Hi, Betty!  Things have finally gotten so goddamned ridiculous out there that my self-imposed “responsibility lurk” collapsed in front of my need to preserve my sanity.

That does it, I’m voting for Rick Perry.

Fuck it all, I’m voting for Kodos.

Hillary would have never done this, but stood steadfast against the machine gun fire.

I can’t believe people are still Tweet-fighting over this. It’s the dumbest “controversy” since Obama moved his Jobs Speech to Thursday night.

Actually, Strange, I do want President Palin.  In a kind of sociopathological suicidal way, of course.

It’s the dumbest “controversy” since Obama moved his Jobs Speech to Thursday night.

What a pass we’ve come to when it’s a challenge to decide what the dumbest nontroversy has been of the past seven days.

It’s the dumbest “controversy” since Obama moved his Jobs Speech to Thursday night.

The progressive poutrage community needs an outrage a day, or there’s no reason to live.

You want President Palin? Have Obama go on live TV and announce that incremental improvements in air quality are more important than jobs and keeping energy costs down. I dare you.

Like that his only alternative to caving in to the Republicans on this issue.

A false dilemma (also called false dichotomy, the either-or fallacy, fallacy of false choice, black-and-white thinking or the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses) is a type of logical fallacy that involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are additional options (sometimes shades of grey between the extremes). For example, “It wasn’t medicine that cured Ms. X, so it must have been a miracle.”

False dilemma can arise intentionally, when fallacy is used in an attempt to force a choice (“If you are not with us, you are against us.”) But the fallacy can also arise simply by accidental omission of additional options rather than by deliberate deception (e.g., “I thought we were friends, but all my friends were at my apartment last night and you weren’t there.”)[citation needed]

In the community of philosophers and scholars, many believe that “unless a distinction can be made rigorous and precise it isn’t really a distinction.”[1] An exception is analytic philosopher John Searle, who called it an incorrect assumption which produces false dichotomies.[2] Searle insists that “it is a condition of the adequacy of a precise theory of an indeterminate phenomenon that it should precisely characterize that phenomenon as indeterminate; and a distinction is no less a distinction for allowing for a family of related, marginal, diverging cases.”[2] Similarly, when two alternatives are presented, they are often, though not always, two extreme points on some spectrum of possibilities; this can lend credence to the larger argument by giving the impression that the options are mutually exclusive, even though they need not be.[citation needed] Furthermore, the options in false dichotomies are typically presented as being collectively exhaustive, in which case the fallacy can be overcome, or at least weakened, by considering other possibilities, or perhaps by considering a whole spectrum of possibilities, as in fuzzy logic.[citation needed]

DA is citing Wikipedia. Game over, man! And why hasn’t OBummer ever thought of doing THAT, huh? HUH?!?!?!

Then let’s get to the heart of the matter:

“If you can’t explain why you want cleaner air and less asthma attacks for kids, then you really suck at political messaging.”

Joe Romm, Center for American Progress Socialism

When you can explain the fact that your political opponents could give a flying fuck about kids with asthma and will not only assault any reasonable steps you wish to take, your message doesn’t fucking matter.

But fuck it, we all know Obama just wants your ponies to die of lung disease, I mean, because that’s totally the only outcome of this, right?

There are no other political and social realities to consider, no siree, no thoughts to what will happen when polluters lay off a few thousand workers to ensure the President doesn’t score an easy poliical point, right?

There are no other political and social realities to consider, no siree, no thoughts to what will happen when polluters lay off a few thousand workers to ensure the President doesn’t score an easy political point, right?

Not just that, but Martin over at BJ points to the cost per life saved for this rule.  $26 mil per person probably isn’t the most efficient way to save save lives.

Turns out that it may be entirely possible that Obama was right, not just on the politics but on the policy.

There are no other political and social realities to consider, no siree, no thoughts to what will happen when polluters lay off a few thousand workers to ensure the President doesn’t score an easy poliical point, right?

OTOH, the praise that Obama got from Mitch McConnell and the Chamber of Commerce will pay off later on for Obama, amiright?

Turns out that it may be entirely possible that Obama was right, not just on the politics but on the policy.

Ja, und Affen können fliegen meinen Arsch jeder Zeit.

Ja, und Affen können fliegen meinen Arsch jeder Zeit.

Main verb goes at the end.

@The Dark Avenger

Lame Witze aus 20 Jahren immer noch lahm, auch wenn sie in Deutsch sind.

OTOH, the praise that Obama got from Mitch McConnell and the Chamber of Commerce will pay off later on for Obama, amiright?

Probably moreso than the inevitable cries of “Out-of-touch Mr. Greenie-Weenie is more concerned about asthma than the 30 million Americans who are unemployed or have given up hope” that would have ensued had Obama decided to commit suicide on this especially dumb hill.

@StrangeAppar8us

Lame Witze aus 20 Jahren immer noch lahm, auch wenn sie in Deutsch sind.

Sollen wir einen Arzt oder einen Lehrer für ihn rufen?

Sollen wir einen Arzt oder einen Lehrer für ihn rufen?

Ich denke, ein Psychiater wäre besser geeignet für diese Situation. Vielleicht ist die wahre Quelle der “progressiven” butt-schaden könnten entdeckt werden.

I flunked German twice, so my translations skills are, shall we say, shit.

You may think the decision was “prudent & defensible,” but my grandson has environmentally induced asthma and I think it sucks.  Yes, I know that makes me a Sarah-loving teabagger, but I have had it.  That’s the last straw for me.

Later, KK, just remember that Obama personally is responsible for the child’s asthma and you’ll do fine with President Perry.

@Krusher King — I’m sorry about your grandson, and I don’t think you’re a teabagger. In your case, the politics are extremely personal.

They’re also extremely personal to about 30 million people who are worried about their homes, their retirements and and whether or not they can pay the light bill next month. And not just them, but a lot of Americans who would readily buy the “Democrat regulations are jobkillers” meme the GOP is pushing right now.

Since almost every GOP candidate for President is running on the intention to roll back or defund the EPA in its entirety — including recent dramatic cuts in allowable emissions of mercury, sulfur and other pollutants — I hope you’re practicing the speech you’ll have to give your grandson some day on why he has to live in a plastic containment. That, or vote for the GOP candidate who seems most likely to support generous public subsidies for inhalers and rebreathers.

There’s another issue of hundreds of cities/states being out of compliance with the new rule.  So what do they do?  Why, sue the feds of course.  So this whole thing doesn’t get resolved until past 2013 anyway.

Ich würde nicht sagen, dass etwa Mike J, ich bin sicher, er ist ebenso aufrichtig wie alle, die das Gespräch über die Probleme Kinder mit Asthma Atmung verschmutzte Luft haben, ist eine politische verlieren Punkt in Amerika ich denke.

Ich denke, ein Psychiater wäre besser geeignet für diese Situation. Vielleicht ist die wahre Quelle der “progressiven” butt-schaden könnten entdeckt werden.

Ja, das ist in Ordnung, aber das Kompliment ich die Dienste eines Spezialisten in Psychopathologie müssen zurückkehren würde.

Later, KK, just remember that Obama personally is responsible for the child’s asthma and you’ll do fine with President Perry.

Ja, Meine Esel, das is sehr gut

nicht.

Why, sue the feds of course.  So this whole thing doesn’t get resolved until past 2013 anyway

Now, prepare yourself, folks, someone is going to say something mean about Obama:

The American Lung Association filed suit against the EPA following the weak Bush standards but dropped it after the Obama administration said it was going to reconsider. The group issued a statement on Friday signaling that it will revive the suit now that the Obama administration has signaled that it is not going to improve the standard, which is a violation of the Clean Air Act, the group says.

My two cents: I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the announcement came on day when the Labor Department released the worst jobs report in 11 months. The move certainly plays right into the “jobs vs. the environment” frame that the opponents of any and all regulations have constructed. Worse, though, is that it feeds the idea that it’s perfectly okay for the administration to ignore the advice of agency scientists.

It’s also not clear whom Obama thinks he’s going to win over with this. I’m pretty sure this won’t send the American Petroleum Institute or the Chamber of Commerce rushing to donate to his reelection bid, or make Republicans start saying nice things about him.

Dark Avenger, that’s deep. You should post that on the Web somewhere.

So the ALA sues and it still isn’t resolved till past 2013.  What’s your point?

You mean, StrangeAppar8tus, some place on the Web that people pay attention to?

Good point Nellcote.

They weren’t going to sue because they thought the science would prevail, but obviously reaching out to those imaginary centrists who would go for the Republicans without this ruling is more important than the mere air we breath.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

You mean, StrangeAppar8tus, some place on the Web that people pay attention to?

Nah, I meant some place on the Web where people pay attention to you.

So I take it, Dark Avenger, that you’ve been campaigning on this issue for considerable time, since you seem so exercised about it.

Or is it just a bandwagon you jumped on this week?

Nah, I meant some place on the Web where people pay attention to you.

You just can’t get quit of me, Strangappar8tus?

So I take it, Dark Avenger, that you’ve been canmpaigning on this issue for considerable time, since you seem so exercised about it.

Nah,

Thought as much.

Trying to ban me by my e-mail addy?

That’s not very sporting, chaps.

Ohh, that stung, YAFB

nicht.

Trying to ban me by my e-mail addy?

Huh? Which of the at least four “email addresses” you’ve used would that be?

You’ll note that a few people have been having trouble submitting comments. But since I’m tired of your schtick after more than a year of reading your endless trolling whining, fine, I’ll do just that. Go set up your own blog. Then get a life.

Yeah, veterans of the battle for sensible environmental policy - not to mention proponents for women’s rights, for 4th Amendment protections, and numerous other issues - are probably having sympathetic headaches over this, from remembered kicks-to-the-teeth they’ve received in comparable past battles of their own.

Like @Strange said above, this issue is deeply personal for many.  IMHO, the decision is illogical and troubling on purely scientific/technical grounds.  But take it from a scitech dude whose recommendations in his own quirky IRL workplace microcosm - sometimes delivered “with feeling” - have been trumped by bullshit considerations that, while understandable in the context of the bigger picture, are no less bullshitty.  Say larvee, as the French say.

Like Winston Churchill said, “democracy sucks” - well, he said it differently, along with some other stuff* - and this is yet another manifestation of that truth.  So while I’m not gonna get on anyone’s case for being angry about this - whether because they or their loved ones are directly affected, or they’ve put in a bunch of hours in their life fighting the good fight, only to get thrown back - I’m going to force myself to remember the people I share the country with (and in some case, the DNA coding is shared as well), and how fucked up they are they view the world in a manner so different from me.  And if I can figure why they feel that way, maybe I can figure out how to change their minds. Unfortunately, that is likely to be a slow, tedious and frustrating process that transcends** generations (**our decaying environment permitting).

Have a nice day!

I’m also under the impression that Obama’s administration raised fuel-efficiency standards just a month or so ago - and that smog has been a problem for quite some time, mostly because Americans claim to care about cleaner air (at least when it dawns on them that it might be affecting THEM or THEIR CHILDREN!!!!) but simultaneously refuse to give up their inalienable rights to drive whatever-the-fuck-they-want every-fucking-where. Oh, and they also in the aggregate scream about raising taxes. vote against “tax and spend” environmentalists who might create socialist cleaner infrastructure and transit options.

Overpopulation plus overconsumption multiplied by stupid voters equals fucked-up filthy planet. Plenty o’ blame to go around, so don’t waste it all on the Inadequate Black Dude.

And yes, I realize I’m fortunate to live in a city with extensive, albeit occasionally slow and annoying, public transit so I don’t have to drive (and really, given how bad I am at it, that’s a good thing for lots of reasons). And I don’t have kids or physical limitations or job requirements or other conditions that would necessitate driving more than not.

Some of the commenters over there disagree, although I confess I didn’t get through them all.

Good grief. For some reason, I did. It was comical to watch one particularly full-of-itself individual castigate Mr. B. at some length for the reputed size of his ego and the poverty of his wit and skill while evidently lacking any self-insight whatsoever, to the extent of using footnotes non-ironically in a comment.*

And of course, we had the obligatory streak from somebody called Hidari who thought that precisely what the elevated discussion needed at that point was an injection of an excerpt from the Matt Stoller Salon piece with strategic bolding of the money shot, presumably for those who were incapable of getting there without some sort of typographic viagra, only for the thread to roll on over it with precisely zero acknowledgement. Interesting. It’s not that there wasn’t plenty of anti-Obama sentiment, it just appeared they preferred to roll their own.

All in all, it was entertainment, I suppose, but so’s watching drunks square up at pub closing time. You just don’t want it happening on your doorstep. (I should add there seem some decent and interesting sorts there, too, but they generally just made a comment, two at the most, then quit.)

* We never do that here.

We never do that here.

Meh, speak for yourself, sir!  Pretentious comments with non-ironic footnotes are a specialty of mine.

And I suppose I should stop being a smart-ass on the pomo thing - since it gets used so often by more broadly educated folk than me - and actually try to figure out what it means.  That is, assuming the concept isn’t too often misused as a catch-all amorphous mallet in arguments by the lazy or desperate.

Pomo’s fine with me, meep, and footnote as the mood takes you. We’re a broad church here (just not a home for persistently sockpuppeting trolls).

I shouldn’t give the impression I’m trying to trivialize this thread just because I’m looking for some wry amusement after a small melodrama.

Didn’t see your 09:59 slip in there, @YAFB, while dawdling over my 10:19 throwaway bit.

I should try reading that Stoller thing.  But I appreciated him more back in his MyDD and early OL days, especially as a team with Chris Bowers.

Maybe Stoller is only at his best when in opposition; perhaps some smart former colleague from Alan Grayson’s Congressional staff (2008-2010) will tell all one day.  Accounts of the dynamics in that office might be interesting; or maybe not. [Splunge!]

That Stoller piece is embarrassing. I’ll try the other Matt instead.

That Stoller piece is embarrassing.

Quite a few people have pointed that out to him in no uncertain terms. (Assuming he reads the comments.) Go for the factcheck linked above first if you bother—it makes it all the more fun (actually, the factcheck’s all you need to read anyway unless you’re into flagrant idiocy as an artform).

Bravo, Davescott72.

From a comment at Frenchy McFrenchname’s Crooked Timber post, a new description for NCLB.

No Child Left Without a Scantron.

Thank you, b9n10nt.

And for the record, Obama’s embrace of charter schools and Arne Fucking Duncan is one of the areas where I have deep disagreements.