Presidential advisor Karl Rove may have played a part in loosening EPA regulations for a Republican oil executive, according to an article in The Los Angeles Times. According to the article by Times reporter Tom Hamburger, Rove received a 2002 letter from Republican activist and Texas oil tycoon Ernest Angelo about the regulation. Robert Siegel talks with Hamburger.
According to the article, Angelo complained about an environmental rule designed by the Clinton administration to protect groundwater by requiring an EPA permit before construction -- or drilling for oil and gas -- could proceed. A revised version of the rule went into effect this week.
Environmentalist activists who have opposed the changes say that after Angelo demanded changes to the regulations, Rove demanded answers from administration environmental officials. In the end, exemptions were provided for oil and gas companies.
Hamburger and his colleague Peter Wallsten co-wrote the article.
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