Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards of North Carolina is accusing the Bush Administration of engaging in “secret negotiations” with large-scale livestock operators. Edwards says “they’re cutting secret deals in the middle of the night that threaten the air and also the health of thousands of people.” Edwards says the hog industry’s trying to get a two-year-long exemption from any enforcement of Clean Air Act standards which are being proposed for the industry. Edwards says the changes sought by the industry would threaten the quality of rural life and undercut state laws. Edwards concedes there’s growing tension in rural America between livestock operations and their neighbors. Edwards says that tension can be addressed out in the open, and he says that’s why the “secret” E-P-A negotiations are so troubling. North Carolina, Edwards’ home, has had a moratorium on new manure lagoons since 1997 and livestock producers are financing research into alternative water disposal methods. Edwards says it’s an open process for finding solutions, as opposed to the closed process the Bush Administration is pursuing. Edwards also accuses the Bush Administration of stifling U-S-D-A research on large-scale hog operations. Edwards says science should not be hidden because it’s “politically-sensitive.”
