Barack Obama has bowed to pressure from Republicans in Congress to postpone plans to introduce tighter controls over smog-producing companies.
The White House decision provoked expressions of dismay among environmental groups campaigning for cleaner air.
The retreat will add to the growing perception among voters that Obama is a weak president, reluctant to stand up to the Republicans. Obama has said repeatedly that he was intent on pushing ahead with tougher rules to force businesses to reduce concentrations of ground-level ozone.
But Republicans argued that such a move would increase the burden on businesses at a time when they are struggling in a faltering economy and could lead to job losses. The Republican House majority leader, Eric Cantor, had described the proposed regulations as “job-killers”.
It is another victory for the Republicans, who only control the House of Representatives but have managed to dictate much of the political agenda in the Democratic-controlled White House and Senate.
Republicans, who return to Congress from holiday next week, paralysed Washington in the weeks running up to the summer break by threatening to vote against raising of the country’s debt ceiling, forcing Obama to concede substantial spending cuts.
The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, hailed Obama’s latest climbdown on Friday. “The president took a step today that highlights the devastating impact on jobs that has been created by this administration’s regulatory overreach. This action alone will prevent more job losses than any speech the president has given,” McConnell said.
One of McConnell’s Senate colleagues, John Barrasso, echoed him: “Job creators scored a major victory today in the fight against Washington’s red tape.”
Democrats in Congress saw it as a setback. Ed Markey, a Democratic congressman on the House natural resources committee, said: “I am disappointed that the president chose to further delay important clean-air protections that would have helped to prevent respiratory and cardiac disease in thousands of Americans.”
Obama had promised to replace weak air-control standards introduced by George W Bush.
In a statement, Obama said on Friday the changes would have to be delayed until 2013, after the White House election in November next year. He cited the impact on business as the reason for the delay.
Obama insisted he remained committed to the environment. “At the same time, I have continued to underscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, particularly as our economy continues to recover,” he said.
His decision overrules the advice of the federal government’s Environmental Protection Agency, a body treated with derision by Republicans, who see it as an embodiment of “big government”.
In his statement, Obama told the head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson, to withdraw the proposal to tighten standards.
The EPA’s independent panel of advisers earlier this year unanimously agreed that public health would benefit from the introduction of higher standards. Jackson had said the changes would have helped prevent as many as 12 000 premature deaths a year and save $100-billion in health costs.
The new rules would have forced companies to reduce emissions of certain chemicals that help create smog.
Dow Chemical said the changes would cost as much as $90bn.
Earthjustice, which has launched legal actions aimed at tackling smog-producers, expressed disappointment. Martin Hayden, the group’s vice-president, said: “The Obama administration knows the heavy cost of smog pollution but has made the terrible decision to leave outdated, weak standards in place, leaving thousands of Americans who suffer from lung and breathing problems at the mercy of this dirty air.”
Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, said: “The Obama administration is caving to big polluters at the expense of protecting the air we breathe. This is a huge win for corporate polluters and huge loss for public health.” — guardian.co.uk Guardian News and Media 2011