In its final months the Bush Administration has issued a slew of last minute environmental rule changes, many of which have already gone into effect and could be hard to reverse.
National Geographic News asked representatives from four leading environmental organizations to judge 11 of these "midnight regulations"—some final, some not, some withdrawn—and to grade each development, from A to F, in terms of its potential long-term impact on the environment.
THE PANEL
Jon Devine: senior defense attorney with the National Resources Defense Council's water program
Jim DiPeso: policy director for Republicans for Environmental Protection, a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying group
Trip van Noppen: President of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm
Bob Irvin: senior vice president for conservation programs at Defenders of Wildlife, a wildlife conservation organization
John Walke: clean air project director and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental action group
THE CHANGES
1. Power Plants Encouraged Near Parks—RESCINDED
Conservationists were delighted when the Bush Administration withdrew a proposed rule that would have made it easier for industrial facilities—including coal-fired plants—to be built or expanded near national parks and wilderness areas.
"It's a welcome relief," said Defenders of Wildlife's Irvin. "They should never have proposed it in the first place, and dropping it was the best thing they could have done."
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