Date: 2/6/2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is reversing a previous Bush administration effort on pollution, pulling back legal arguments in a lawsuit over mercury.
The case was soon to come before the Supreme Court. The Obama administration submitted papers Friday to the court asking for the appeal to be dismissed.
An appeals court last year rejected a Bush administration plan for regulating mercury emissions. It said the plan should not have included allowing utilities to purchase emission credits instead of actually reducing emissions.
Scientists fear mercury pollution leads to neurological problems in infants.
The power industry still has a separate petition challenging the appeals court ruling, which is unaffected by the Obama administration’s action.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.