Email exchange reveals problems between EPA and White House

Washington Post : Emails made public through a Freedom of Information Act request show the current frustration of some Environmental Protection Agency officials with the White House. The email exchange among EPA officials was prompted by a letter from President Obama to House Speaker John Boehner on 30 August 2011, in which he misstated the cost of one of the EPA’s antipollution rules and failed to highlight the potential benefits of others. In addition, no one in the EPA knew about the letter until after it was sent. In one email, EPA White House liaison Dan Kanninen related what he told White House cabinet secretary Christopher Lu: “In the interest of both accuracy and situational awareness tighter coordination would [have] been appreciated and in this case would have avoided a fairly significant error.” EPA officials have expressed concern that the White House focuses too much on the cost of the proposals and not enough on the potential health benefits to the public.