1115.org

EPA administrator Stephen Johnson was in the news again yesterday. And anybody who is not paid by the Bush administration to lie for a living would have to agree that there is abundant probable cause.

Amid intensifying scrutiny of the US environmental protection agency’s (EPA) refusal to act on climate change, four Democratic senators today asked federal prosecutors to investigate the EPA chief for alleged perjury and obstruction of Congress.

The call for a justice department probe of EPA administrator Stephen Johnson – coupled with a plea for his resignation from Democrats – follows a darkening cloud of controversy surrounding the agency.

“Johnson’s EPA has shown an extraordinary disregard for the law,” Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Senate environment committee, told reporters today.

“It’s unlawful, the things they have done. And by extension, they’ve shown a disregard for the people that we represent and for all the American people.”

The EPA has refused repeated requests from Congress to explain its December denial of California’s request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a move that overruled the agency’s own career scientists.

Predictably, the White House response was to insist that, in the time of Bush, nobody is ever accountable for anything. Especially not to Congress.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto dismissed the allegations against Johnson, saying Boxer has “no standing” to question Johnson’s integrity.

To be honest, he spoiled it somewhat by continuing: “Administrator Johnson is an honorable, experienced, career scientist and everything he has done at the EPA has been with the interests of protecting the American people and our environment”.

That’s practically like going: “Just kidding!” But let’s take Fratto’s statement at face value for a minute.

Dude, Johnson’s a public servant. That means he’s not only supposed to serve the public, he’s also answerable to the public. And let’s remember there are glaring contradictions between his sworn testimony, and that of others:

A former Environmental Protection Agency official yesterday contradicted EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson’s congressional testimony on one of the administration’s key global warming decisions, saying the White House ordered Johnson to block California’s bid to regulate vehicles’ tailpipe emissions.

On Jan. 24, Johnson told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under oath that he had made the decision on his own after determining there was no compelling evidence to justify California’s plans. “The responsibility for making the decision for California rests with me and solely with me,” Johnson said at the time. “I made the decision. It was my decision. It was the right decision.”

Yesterday, however, former EPA deputy associate administrator Jason K. Burnett — who resigned last month and has since divulged key details about how President Bush and his deputies have influenced the agency’s decisions on climate policy — testified before the committee that Johnson had concluded that California’s request was legally justified — until White House officials ordered him to reverse the decision.

Under the circumstances, any taxpayer has standing to question Johnson’s integrity. Boxer has more than just standing, she has an obligation, a responsibility.

But one can hardly expect anyone in the Bush administration to understand such concepts. Not while they are still serving. That’s when there’s total suspension of disbelief. And concepts like honor and integrity and responsibility remain checked in for the duration.