In these waning days of the Bush administration, while Congress and the media are fixated on the upcoming election, the White House has been engaged in a flurry of last-minute moves to ease environmental and consumer protections, pressing to get the measures through before the president leaves office.

Roughly 90 new regulations are in the works, according to news reports out of Washington. Among them: rolling back restrictions on private industry, including mines and power plants; easing restrictions on pollutants that contribute to global warming; and relaxing drinking-water safety standards.

It's not uncommon for departing administrations to make policy changes under the wire. But the scope and potential costs associated with these are raising eyebrows — and rightly so.

Indeed, the next administration will have to go through a lengthy process — including required public comment periods and mandatory analysis -to even begin to restore the rules in question.

It's a disappointing maneuver, considering the attention could be better spent mitigating America's deep financial crisis.

The good news is the election will bring a fresh perspective and a change in course in the White House. It's time to put our country back on the right path. Sweeping deregulation and rolling back consumer protections are not the way to go.