http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Majority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=70656c65-802a-23ad-4bac-9b3438778469&Designation=MajoritySenators Call for EPA Administrator’s ResignationAsk for Investigation Into Inconsistencies in Testimony Before CongressWashington, D.C. - Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and committee members Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson today, charging that
Johnson had given misleading testimony before Congress; refused to cooperate with Congressional oversight; and based agency decisionmaking on political considerations rather than scientific evidence or the rule of law. The case against Johnson is outlined in a Sense of the Senate resolution Boxer and Whitehouse will introduce today.
The senators asked Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey to
investigate apparent contradictions between the sworn testimony of Administrator Johnson and the testimony of other sworn witnesses regarding the circumstances surrounding EPA's denial California's request for a waiver under the Clean Air Act to set strong standards for global warming emissions from vehicles.
Senator Boxer said, "Mr. Johnson has consistently chosen special interests over the American people's interests in protecting health and safety. He has become a secretive and dangerous ally of polluters, and we cannot stand by and allow more damage to be done. We have lost all confidence in Stephen Johnson's ability to carry out EPA's mission in accordance with the law. I call on Administrator Johnson to immediately resign his position."
"Administrator Johnson has done the bidding of the Bush Administration and its political allies without hesitation or question," said Whitehouse, a former U.S. Attorney and Attorney General for Rhode Island. "He has acted, consistently and routinely, without regard for the law or the determinations of the courts; he has damaged the mission, the morale, and the integrity of his great department; and he has betrayed his solemn duty to Americans who depend on him to protect their health and environment. The American people cannot accept such a person in a position of such great responsibility. I call on Administrator Johnson to resign his position, effective immediately."
Perjury charges? Oh, please, please, please!
Watch Sheldon Whitehouse lay out their case.