CPR Member Scholar David Driesen has an op-ed in this morning’s Syracuse Post-Standard discussing the Administration’s punt on the smog standard, arguing it’s “unfortunate that President Obama has decided to embrace the Republican narrative about regulatory burdens instead of explaining the true causes of our economic woes.”
Remembering the role of financial deregulation in our economic crisis, Driesen writes:
The lesson is that we need government standards to safeguard the economy, just as we need them to safeguard the environment. But government bashers have mounted a campaign to create a different narrative — a diversion — blaming economic weakness not on deregulation and reckless financial institutions, but on government regulation.
By defending his withdrawal of the anti-smog standard as a measure to reduce economic burdens, Obama lends authority to this ongoing campaign to render government incapable of establishing adequate standards to protect the economy or the environment. Rampant speculation, diminished public health and destruction of natural resources, however, do not a strong economy make.
Check out the full op-ed here.
