If EPA IG Arthur Elkins has any self-respect, he’ll resign.
In response to Elkins’ exceedingly milquetoasty rebuke of the EPA process leading up to its endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, agency staff fired back in a statement:
While we will consider the specific recommendations, we disagree strongly with the inspector general’s findings and followed all the appropriate guidance in preparing this finding. EPA undertook a thorough and deliberate process in the development of this finding, including a careful review of the wide-range of peer-reviewed science.
An unidentified EPA official also sneered to Politico:
“Did it really take $300,000 to determine that while we dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s, someone thinks we used the wrong font — especially when OMB says we didn’t? It boils down to whether we followed OMB guidance and sufficiently peer review the most heavily scrutinized and peer reviewed body of science in history — OMB says yes, and it’s their guidance, so we’ll take their word for it.
It’s not a question of font, of course. It’s a question of following explicit rules.
So will Barack Obama and Lisa Jackson allow Elkins to be treated with such disrespect? Will Elkins take it? What is the point of having an inspector general if his work is to be ignored and abused? Is the IG just there for show?
Elkins bio on the EPA web site says,
Mr. Elkins is the proud father of three children and resides in Bowie, Maryland, with his wife, Gail.
The question for Elkins is whether his wife and kids can be proud of him.
In my experience, I know of no other Federal agency as completely narcissistic as the EPA. They certainly are at the top of junk science peddling and denial of the truth, even when it smacks them in the face. Now they want to rid themselves of the one person who does not say what they want to hear. They certainly have a lot of nerve when they point that finger at business.