Now, Don't Go Around Confusing Beaker With The Facts.

(Link via Kausfiles.)

An interesting story about the Bush Administration's tough new diesel emission rules, more stringent than those in Europe.

"The proposed rules -- to be formally announced next spring -- would slash off-road diesel emissions by as much as 95 percent and bring them in line with newly adopted standards for heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses that traverse the nation's highways. Off-road diesel engines have been held to a much weaker standard than on-road vehicles since 1977. After power plants, off-road diesel engines are among the largest sources of pollutants that scientists have linked to premature deaths, lung cancer, asthma and other serious upper respiratory illnesses, according to the EPA.

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[T]he administration has consistently and aggressively advocated tougher diesel emission standards -- well beyond those imposed in Europe. It has also rejected previous pleas of industry and lawmakers for more lenient regulations.

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'We're supportive [of new rules] and we recognize we can't sell diesel fuel if it's perceived as dirty and contributing to pollution,' said Ed Murphy, a senior official at the American Petroleum Institute. 'But we have done studies showing it could reduce the supply of diesel to the markets. The economics make it difficult for refiners to justify the investments you have to make.'"

>>Ah, yes: once again, we have irrefutable proof that the FratBoy President is totally beholden to Big Oil. Yet another example of his "appalling environmental record," right, Beaker? Nevertheless, I'm sure this will be chalked up as a deceptive manuever by those who cite Earth In The Balance as Holy Writ.

After all, it certainly doesn't fit the behavioral template of the man the Left fantasizes about. You know: the guy who takes secret trips around the country in Air Force One to burn styrofoam, throttle spotted owls, spray freon on the elderly and pour dioxin into elementary school air vents.