OMB economist questions air pollution proposal

The Washington Post reports Randall W. Lutter, an “economist at the Office of Management and Budget who has battled environmentalists for years on issues such as climate change and smog has raised questions about the economic impact of a proposed new rule on air pollution, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.” Lutter, a Food and Drug Administration employee “detailed to the OMB, looked at whether the rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency imposes higher costs on coal-fired power plants than the agency has assumed.” Documents in “the EPA’s public docket show he has questioned the economic assumptions underlying a rule to cut sulfur dioxide emissions.”