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Articles by John Walke

John Walke is a senior attorney and the Director of NRDC's Clean Air Program.

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Is this the GOP’s vision of a happy, healthy future?Image: Devin HuntCross-posted from Natural Resources Defense Council.

Last week, the U.S. Senate rejected an extreme agenda disguised as a jobs and transportation bill. This unsuccessful effort was founded on the absurd notion that more pollution would mean more jobs, and that what the country really needs is more of the congressional paralysis and obstructionism that already wearies and disgusts Americans.

This week, the Senate will vote again on repealing life-saving pollution standards — this time a Tea Party-backed attack on the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) that keeps out-of-state smog and soot pollution from fouling the air of neighboring communities. Once again, the dirty air champions are going to talk about jobs, but the public already knows what the Senate affirmed last week — dirty air and dirty water are not a jobs plan.

Last week’s failed legislation was Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-Utah) Long-Term Surface Extension Act of 2011 [PDF] — a witch’s brew of Tea Party House Republican bromides about job creation that in reality were just pois... Read more

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