Duststorm! Cattlemen, mining lobby get White House to kill big-particle standard

When the US EPA came out with its industry-friendly particle soot standards last month, it was unclear why the agency had abruptly killed existing long-term standards for bigger particles.

Now, the reason may be a little clearer.

A White House web site discloses that just before the standards were announced, the White House met privately with lobbyists from the cattlemen, other farms groups, the mining industry, and other hired guns.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/oira/2060/meetings/532.html

Here are the meeting participants:

Amy Flynn
OMB/OIRA

Jason Burnett
EPA/OAR

Art Fraas
OMB/OIRA

Deb Atwood
Crowell & Moring

Paul Schlegel
American Farm Bureau

Danielle Quist
American Farm Bureau

Hal Quinn
National Mining Association

Todd Johnston
National Mining Association

Bob Connery
Holland & Hart

Tamara Thies
National Cattlemen's Beef Association

Jay H. Truitt
National Cattlemen's Beef Association

Michael Formica
National Pork Producers Council

Steve Aitken
OMB/OIRA

Elizabeth Stolpe
Council on Environmental Quality

Hunter Moorehead
National Economic Council

Jonathan Borak
Yale University (via Telephone)
National Mining Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association
Gale Hoffnagle
TRC Environmental Group (via Telephone)
National Mining Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association