Environmental regulations: The private sector doesn't like tightening them. Environmentalists don't like loosening them.
How do you anger both groups? Do what President Obama just did. (Video via The White House)
"EPA is strengthening the air quality health standard for ground-level ozone, or smog," an Environmental Protection Agency video announced.
The EPA has lowered the ozone standard from 75 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion.
If that doesn't seem like much to you, you're not alone.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said, "It doesn’t go far enough to protect the millions of Americans living in communities with dangerously high levels of smog pollution." (Video via Sierra Club)
In the lower atmosphere, ozone can cause smog and worsen asthma, causing flare ups.
The American Lung Association has in the past said 60 ppb would meet Clean Air Act requirements and protect public health. (Video via American Lung Association)
Early in his presidency, President Obama let Bush-era standards on ozone stand, to the approval of manufacturing interests. (Video via The White House)
But on the new regulations, the National Association of Manufacturers said, "The new ozone standard will inflict pain on companies that build things in America — and destroy job opportunities for American workers." (Video via National Association of Manufacturers)
So far, the loudest group standing by the standard is the Environmental Protection Agency, which proposed it. (Video via Environmental Protection Agency)
This video includes images from TexasGOPVote.com / CC BY 2.0 and music from Frenic / CC BY 3.0.
