Pollution Bill Aimed at CaliforniaThursday September 7, 2006 11:46 PM
By ERICA WERNER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A bill to crank up penalties for the nation's most
polluted air regions - both in California - was introduced Thursday
in the Senate by Congress' biggest skeptic of global warming.
A week after reacting angrily to California's passage of landmark
anti-global warming legislation, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., produced
a bill to more than double fines on polluters who don't meet cleanup
deadlines for soot and smog. States that don't require them to clean
up could be denied federal highway funds.
Democrats and environmental activists accused Inhofe, who chairs the
Environment and Public Works Committee, of retaliating against California.
-snip-The bill drew an angry response from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is
in line to become the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works
Committee next year. "I can only conclude that this legislation is
punishment for my state's groundbreaking, bipartisan global warming bill,"
she said.
-snip-