In just its first month, the Obama administration is moving to reverse Bush administration Clean Air Act policies. One action deals with a rule governing mercury emissions, an important piece of the Bush team’s program. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had struck down the mercury rule and the Bush administration appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. But in early February, new Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that EPA would not pursue the Bush administration appeal and said the agency instead would draft a new mercury regulation. The high court followed up on Feb. 23, announcing that it would not hear the Bush appeal.

William Becker, the National Association of Clean Air Agencies’ executive director, says the Supreme Court’s action “puts a final dagger into EPA’s illegal mercury rule that would have eviscerated our nation’s program to control mercury emissions from powerplants.”