White House Blocked Emissions Plan

A former Environmental Protection Agency official contradicted EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson's congressional testimony on one of the administration's key global warming decisions, saying the White House ordered Johnson to block California's bid to regulate vehicles' tailpipe emissions. Former EPA deputy associate administrator Jason K. Burnett — who resigned last month and has since divulged key details about how President Bush and his deputies have influenced the agency's decisions on climate policy — testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that Johnson had concluded that California's request was legally justified — until White House officials ordered him to reverse the decision.