posted on December 22, 2000 08:56:11 PM
He stands on his record of environmental achievement and today appoints a person who he says shares his views. Let's hope not.
I heard that on 'bad air days' in Dallas there are advisories in Houston to keep children and the elderly indoors, air conditioned.
posted on December 22, 2000 10:15:40 PM
I caught a snipet today of Bush's EPA appointee saying "I never underestimate the importance of environmental protection. And I never overestimate the ease of achieving it."
Who the he11 is she and is she saying what I think she's saying??
posted on December 22, 2000 10:30:51 PM
She's the governor of New Jersey, the garden state.
A bud of dubya, and some of the analysts are saying that she is being given that post mostly to park her in a place where she'll be ineffective. Bush owes her something or other.
Bush is making his usual noise about decentralizing in the federal gov't what can be done by the states, but in the case of environmental issues the states could never raise enough money to do much. Essentially it could be the end of cleanup efforts since the superfund sites of the worst contamination take unreal amounts of money to address. Of the initial 100 supersites given over to federal efforts for decontamination only 11 have been completed because of the cost. If federal dollars aren't enough, how could state's funds be enough?
posted on December 24, 2000 11:04:07 AM
I find it very interesting that The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, that well known mouthpiece of the Democratic and liberal leaning mainstream media, editorialized two weeks ago that Whitman would make a good choice for EPA chief as she is one of the more moderates in the Republican ranks regarding the environment.
And now I see that other bastions of the media are working hard to draw up the battle lines by depicting her as an extremist who will dismantle all of the progress made on the environment.
I think it irresponsible for the media to judge someone before they have even begun to serve, as though they were mere automatons in the past and will remain so in the future.
Has anyone considered that when serving as a governor of a State, the constituency one serves is intrinsically different than the constituency one serves as President or as a member of the Cabinet?
Which is not to say we should all roll over and let the opposition do whatever it wants. No one gained a clear mandate during the past election. Bush will have to consider the oppostion views and interests if he intends to run for re-election.
My advice is to continue to express concern for what is important to you. After this election it would be foolish for anyone to think they needn't listen.
She may be or turn out to be a good choice, but she has demonstrated her willingness to suspend action in environmental areas for the sake of the growth of business. I think that in large measure is why she was selected. There is a pretty sudden energy shortage that promises to get worse in the next month or so. I would not be surprised to see GW take emergency measures to alleviate that problem so that he can be perceived as having provided relief in a crisis which can be portrayed as one which results from the ineptitude of the current administration. He will need an EPA chief who will back off of any regulatory requirements for the duration of that activity.
posted on December 24, 2000 11:53:03 AM
This news comes as no surprize. Remeber that jerkoff that ran the EPA in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan? He was appointed to protect the environment, but instead, sold our national treasures to developers, mining concerns, and the logging industry for mere pennies on the dollar of what it was worth. I keep thinking Bill Bennet, but it wasn't him, although I think I recall that Bill served as EPA chair for a while. Anyway, during those years, the EPA acted against clean-ups instead of enforcing the laws. In fact, the whole agency was a joke: they enforced no laws and promoted polluters! That's what you get when you put a Republican into office!
As far as this governor of New Jersey goes, was anyone watching 60 minutes on a week-ago last Sunday? It had an episode on the state of New Jersey and how so totally corrupt the entire law enforcement and government there was. Now you know what it'll be like having her in charge of the EPA. That's like appointing a Tobacco Industry official as the head of the FDA!
Meanwhile, here in Portland, Oregon, which sits at the conflux of two major rivers: the Columbia and the Willamette, year in and year out for over 20 years now, this place has been listed as the EPA's number one most toxic place in America - bar none! And year after year -- even under Clinton, hardly a damn thing is ever done about it except to pay for "more studies".
When will Americans get a break from their government?
posted on December 24, 2000 12:02:15 PMHas anyone considered that when serving as a governor of a State, the constituency one serves is intrinsically different than the constituency one serves as President?
I don't think that the constituency that Dubya will serve will be very much different than the constituency he has served.
posted on December 24, 2000 12:14:26 PM
James Watt for Borillar.
The eyes of Texas are burning from the fumes. Beaumont/Port Arthur stinks so bad you need a gas mask to drive thru. Houston is pretty nasty too.
Austin used to have very little pollution, but looks like that's changed.
edited to say I'm not positive, but I think that's the name. Too many drives thru Houston.
[ edited by snowyegret on Dec 24, 2000 12:16 PM ]
posted on December 24, 2000 12:15:26 PM"I don't think that the constituency that Dubya will serve will be very much different than the constituency he has served."
-KRS-
LOL! Ain't that the Truth! It sure as heck won't be any of the people who voted him into office! And you know what? From the responses I get in this forum, it appears that Republican voters know it now and knew it then and still decided to vote for GW anyway! Now what does that tell you?
posted on December 24, 2000 04:31:35 PM
An interesting history of Christine Todd Whitman's damage to the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection can be found
here...
posted on December 24, 2000 05:07:36 PMkrs: I'm in Florida now, but I grew up in Tx, and was there off and on until 91. I went back in 97/98 to work for a while, and saw (and smelled) how things had worsened.
I also remember the big spill back in 1980. I was in Corpus, and we had scientists from all over there to study what happened. The beaches were covered in black sludge, and whenever there were storms for years after, more oil washed up.
Bushiness as usual.
