A New York Times article (Sept 2, 2011) desctibes a plan to abandon improving air quality rules to reduce smog causing chemicals, thus moving to a relaxed standard set in 2008.  Worries about the impact of this new legislation on industry costs, and thus job creation, were presumed to be a driver of this decision. but a planned study of the regulation in 2013, after the presidential election, may also be areason.  Should the regulatory impact of improved air quality legislation be acceptable as a reason to roll back legislation ? If poorer environmental standards made US manufacturing competitive while increasing health risks, is the tradeoff worth it ? If European manufacturers survive in a more regulated environment, will they be ultimaltely more competitive ?