Stephen Johnson Former Epa Administrator

Day 3 At the Open

THE DRAW ANNOUNCED: The waiting is over and the draws have been released. Some quick observations from the men’s side. Saturday morning’s post will take a closer look at the women.

U.S. VS. U.S. MEN’S MATCH TO WATCH I: Reigning NCAA champion Steve Johnson from USC takes on his recent doubles partner Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the first round.

U.S. VS. U.S. MEN’S MATCH TO WATCH II: Andy Roddick faces Houston’s Michael Russell, a tour vet who has a great shot to knock off the slumping former champ.

POTENTIAL SECOND-ROUND MATCH TO WATCH: If No. 21 seeded Roddick survives Russell and wild card Jack Sock win their first-round matches, both native Nebraskans will square off against each other in Round 2. Of course, that will be a tall order for two-time Kalamazoo champion Sock, who will take on veteran Marc Gicquel of France in the first.

Question: If Roddick-Sock does happen, will they close Wal-Mart in Lincoln for the day for all to watch?

WERTHEIM’S PICK: Esteemed Sports Illustrated writer Jon L. Wertheim is picking Serena over Sharapova in the women’s final with Williams topping Andrea Petkovic and Sharapova besting Sabine Lisicki in the semis. On the men’s side, he likes Novak Djokovic over Rafa Nadal with the former beating Roger Federer in his semi and the defending champ taking out Andy Murray in his final four match.

ARTHUR ASHE KIDS’ DAY UP IN THE AIR: US.Open.org was reporting late Thursday night that “Due to the Executive Order issued by Mayor Bloomberg Thursday afternoon regarding outdoor activities occurring in the City of New York this weekend, the USTA is conferring with city officials  regarding  plans for Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.”

The event is scheduled for Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, with the Stadium Show scheduled for 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. There will be a status update released by 1 p.m. on Friday. Check back to USOpen.

EPA Administrator Makes Last Ditch Attempt to Tie Obama's Hands re ...

Johnson’s 19-page memo last Thursday produced a swift reaction from the Natural Resources Defense Council, which said the finding flies in the face of a November decision by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board rejecting the same line of reasoning Johnson laid out in his memo.

“It’s a marvel to behold an EPA action that so utterly disdains global warming responsibility and disdains the law at the same time,” said John Walke, director of the NRDC Clean Air program, in a statement. “EPA’s administrator is defying the agency’s own judges, the Clean Air Act, and the course of history that recognizes the urgency in tackling global warming.

“The administrator’s 11th hour action is a transparently cynical attempt to tie the hands of the incoming administration and prevent Clean Air Act regulation of global warming pollution. The ultimate consolation, however, is that today’s EPA offense is so ham-handed, so divorced from the law, that it can and should be reversed by the Obama administration with the stroke of a pen.”

While I agree with the NRDC that Administrator Johnson’s memorandum “is a transparently cynical attempt to tie the hands of the incoming administration and prevent Clean Air Act regulation of global warming pollution,” I have to respectfully disagree with their conclusion that it is illegal or “divorced from law.”

Legally speaking, the Administrator makes the legally sufficient interpretation that “regulated NSR pollutant” does not include pollutants that only monitored and reported (and not restricted). Likewise, the Administrator is correct in pointing out that as an interpretation of a statute and regulation that the EPA has been given the power to administer, no public comment period is necessary under the Administrative Procedure Act. See, http://taberlaw.wordpress.com for more legal analysis of the memorandum.

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