EPA Employees Make Cool New Web Site For Their Boss

Unfortunately, for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson it’s dedicated to all the reasons he should resign. EPA staff scientists caused a stir in February when they broke a longstanding labor-management partnership after Johnson overruled their recommendations on issues like global warming. Now, they’ve gone all out, collaborating with the National Black Leadership Conference and others, on the Web site www.johnsonmustgo.org.

The Web site gives the usual Johnson complaints of whistleblower retaliation and Congressional stonewalling. And it has some pictures of Johnson smiling and laughing with George W. Bush.

The site launch comes right before the House oversight committee’s vote this Friday on whether to hold Johnson in contempt for withholding documents about the EPA’s new ozone standards and denying California a waiver to police greenhouse gas emissions. It’s tempting to conclude that this could be a turning point in the Johnson scandal. But the ridicule, and contempt vote is just another week in the life of an EPA chief who’s spent 2008 as a punching bag for enviros, Congressional Democrats, state legislatures, and, of course, his own staff.