"Interviews and documents" lie behind the headline of Christopher Drew's and Richard A. Oppel Jr.'s piece exploring EPA's revision to its Clean Air Act rules on power plant modernizations. Some who have followed the "new source review" drama may question how much actually is new in the piece, although former Republican party chairman (now Mississippi Governor) Haley Barbour's specific role adds new details. They report how then-EPA Administrator Christine Whitman "became isolated" within the Administration, in some cases seemingly being set up by Vice President Cheney and his energy task force. They report too how the case study illustrates well the administration's proclivity to "transform domestic policy through regulatory revision, rather than more contentious congressional debate," and also on how all sides of the issue acknowledge that "the nation's approach to air pollution control shifted drastically" as a result of the rules change. They quote from a Whitman memo to Cheney cautioning against the likely fallout from such a rules change ... but they report too on the ample funds contributed by utility interests to the Republican Party, and they report on Whitman's being "disappointed" to find Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham sitting in on what she had assumed would be her private meeting with Cheney to discuss EPA concerns. At another point, she learned of an important Cheney-Barbour meeting on the subject only after the fact, leading to her "blunt memorandum" to the Vice President. The report concludes with a list of EPA officials' resignations from the agency. "The rug was pulled out from under us," one, Rich Biondi, told the Times.