A Busy 11th Hour

While W. is in the locker room with the towel around his neck taking off his hightops, the rest of his Administration is busy quietly pushing through a long-sought conservative agenda through executive branch regulations. The Washington Post reports on the 61 new regulations the Bush Administration has published in the last month.

Some of the rules benefit key industries that have long had the administration's ear, such as oil and gas companies, banks and farms. Others impose counterterrorism security requirements on importers and private aircraft owners.

In the environmental area, the latest rules indicate that the Bush administration wants to lend a final assist to industries that feel burdened by looming pollution controls or wilderness-protection laws. A rule approved by the White House three days after the presidential election, for example, would ease constraints on environmentally damaging oil shale development throughout the West, despite objections from Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) and a majority of the state's congressional delegation.

Administrative rule making is a long and painful process, so changing these regs is a tall order. Unfortunately, W. is damaging even as a "lame duck."

We will do whatever it takes," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the Environment and Public Works Committee chairman. "We're all over this. We've been waiting to pass on the information" to Obama's transition team.

But hey - the good news is that not all of the regs good the green light:

Not every draft regulation got approved. On Nov. 19, the OMB ordered the Energy Department to kill new regulations that would have forced the federal government to buy more-energy-efficient lights, appliances, and heating and cooling systems.
[...] The White House also ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw a new regulation mandating that truck manufacturers install equipment to monitor vehicle pollution.