Demand That Steve Johnson Resign!

Johnson punishes whistleblowers, stonewalls Congress, and devastates the environment.

Please sign this letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Steve Johnson from former Congressman Walter Fauntroy.

When you sign, a copy will be Emailed to your congress member and to each of your two senators.

Open Letter to the American People
Calling for the Resignation of EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson

SIGN NOW:
http://johnsonmustgo.org

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Senate Democrats call for EPA chief to resign

3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four Democratic senators on Tuesday called for Stephen Johnson to resign as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to begin an investigation into whether he lied in testimony to a Senate committee.

The senators, all members of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said Johnson — the first career scientist to head up the agency — had repeatedly succumbed to political pressure on decisions vital to protecting health and the environment.

In a letter the senators sent to Mukasey on Tuesday, they also allege that Johnson made false statements before the committee in January when he said that he alone had decided California should not regulate the gases blamed for global warming from motor vehicles.

A former top EPA official told the committee earlier this month that the administrator initially had decided to grant a partial waiver to the state, but later changed his mind under pressure from the White House.

"We have lost all confidence in Stephen Johnson's ability to carry out EPA's mission under the law," Environment Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told reporters.

Boxer was joined by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in calling for Johnson's resignation. The four Democrats also signed onto the letter to Mukasey.

Jonathan Shradar, Johnson's press secretary, said Tuesday that the administrator would "continue to lead this agency undistracted by the Boxer and White House show."

Responding to the allegations that Johnson made misleading statements, Shradar said: "He had a lot of input from a lot of different people. No he was not lying. Did the White House give input, I would imagine it did. But the decision was his and he made it alone."

Earlier this year, the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth, both environmental advocacy groups, pressed Johnson to step down.

Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, the environment committee's top Republican, issued a brief rebuttal Tuesday, saying, "This is simply more election year politicking. Nothing more need be said."

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Judge: EPA turned 'blind eye' to Everglades

By BRIAN SKOLOFF – 3 hours ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has turned a "blind eye" to Florida's Everglades cleanup efforts, while the state is violating its own commitment to restore the vast ecosystem, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

In a stinging ruling from Miami, U.S. District Judge Alan Gold put to rest a 2004 lawsuit filed against the EPA, ordering the agency to review water pollution standards and timelines set by Florida for the Everglades.

Gold repeatedly accused EPA of acting "arbitrarily and capriciously" in its failure to adhere to the mandates of the Clean Water Act.

"Plaintiffs are correct," Gold wrote, "that EPA has once again avoided its duty to protect the Everglades."

The Miccosukee Indians, who live in the Everglades, and Friends of the Everglades sued the EPA in 2004. They claimed the agency violated the Clean Water Act by allowing Florida to change its water pollution requirements for the Everglades and delay its pollution compliance deadlines.

Gold agreed, adding that the Florida Legislature "violated its fundamental commitment and promise to protect the Everglades."

The case centered on a 2003 amendment to the state's 1994 Everglades Forever Act.

Florida was originally supposed to meet lower phosphorous levels in the Everglades by 2002. The 1994 act pushed that deadline to 2006.

The amendment changed the timeline again, making it more ambiguous by setting a date of 2016 at the earliest.

The phosphorous pollution comes largely from fertilizer runoff from farms and development. The nutrient has long suffocated life in the Everglades, driving out native species and poisoning the water.

The entire wetlands once covered more than 6,250 square miles, but have shrunk by half, replaced with homes and farms and a 2,000-mile grid of drainage canals. The Everglades has since lost 90 percent of its wading birds, and 68 threatened or endangered species face extreme peril.

The restoration effort is the largest of its kind in the world.

The Miccosukee and environmentalists have long accused the state of dragging its feet. The state has spent about $2 billion on restoration, but lawsuits, missteps and a lack of federal funds have bogged down substantial progress for decades.

In his ruling, Gold said the EPA failed to abide by federal law when it did nothing to stop Florida from amending its statute that put off its timeline for cleaning up the Everglades.

"I have both the authority and duty to assure that any future Florida regulations affecting water quality standards are based on statutory authority which has been reviewed comprehensively by the agency entrusted by Congress to enforce" the Clean Water Act, he wrote.

The judge did hand EPA a partial victory by noting it did not violate the Clean Water Act in approving how Florida measures phosphorous levels in the Everglades, by averaging concentrations over time. The plaintiffs had sought a more precise method.

"This is a very big step in stopping the evasion of the state from doing its duty for the Everglades," said Miccosukee attorney Dexter Lehtinen, who called Tuesday's ruling a victory.

Lehtinen said the message from the judge to the state and EPA is clear: "You can't keep changing the rules in the middle of the game just to look good."

The not-for-profit Everglades Foundation also lauded the ruling.

"Most Floridians would find it odd that we have to go to court to force the Environmental Protection Agency to do its job," said foundation CEO Kirk Fordham.

Florida's Department of Environmental Protection and EPA said they were still reviewing the ruling.