Writing a congressional to-do list
Three weeks ago, more than a dozen top-level Bush appointees and Republican members of Congress convened in Phoenix with energy, mining and manufacturing executives for a "Mulligans and Margaritas" political fundraiser, immediately followed by a conference where paying attendees were invited to help the politicians pin down their policy priorities for 2004. The canoodling was organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Western Business Roundtable, both powerful industry groups. Honored guests included Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles, EPA assistant administrator for air Jeffrey Holmstead, and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The invitation to the event opened with the question, "Want to help Congress write its 'To-Do' list for next year?" and went on to advertise a gathering "at the historic and luxurious Arizona Biltmore Resort ... [where] you'll get to participate in a work session with members of Congress in developing a 'Top Ten To-Do List' for Congress." The Western Business Roundtable also sent out a survey to its constituents to get a more authoritative picture of their top 10 political concerns; in the end, more than 300 business leaders participated.

On Tuesday this week, the results were released: While a mere 9 percent of top business leaders from across the West judged the fight against international terrorism to be the No. 1 concern, more than twice that number -- 20 percent -- said that Congress's top priority for 2004 should be passing Bush's energy bill. Coming in at a close second was reforming the Endangered Species Act. Other top picks included reforming the National Environmental Policy Act, expanding access to public lands, and reforming the Clean Air Act.

"These results should come as no surprise to anyone who lives and works in the West, as these are crucial issues that touch virtually every citizen on a daily basis," said Jim Sims, executive director of the Western Business Roundtable. "Clearly, some of these represent very significant challenges for the Congress and will take several years to complete. But the West is increasingly getting organized to press its case in the Congress. I am optimistic that the Congress will make progress this year on a number of these fronts."

Sims was particularly vehement about the need to alter the Endangered Species Act, which he said "is flat-out broken -- it doesn't work. ... Environmentalists are not interested in using this legislation to recover the species [already listed as endangered] -- they just want to add more to the list to throw more and more obstacles in the way of economic progress. Why can't they just focus on the species already on the list?" Sims had similar thoughts on NEPA, which he characterized as another environmental "hammer to smash progress -- any kind of progress!" Progress, in his mind, correlates pretty closely to increased oil, gas, and coal extraction: "People in the West realize that this region is in [economic] trouble without more aggressive plans for energy development -- that's a no-brainer."

Sims adamantly denied that the Jan. 7 political fundraiser in Phoenix was in any way related to the subsequent conference where business chieftains drew up marching orders for Congress -- even though both events were sponsored by the same groups and hosted at the same resort.

"But I make no apologies for helping our members influence political candidates on Western issues!" he said. "That is the definition of the democratic system in the first place -- people need to stand up for their own interests. In fact, more people need to engage in this kind of political process." That is, if they've got a seersucker suit for the golf course and a spare $1,500 for Republicans' congressional campaigns.

Rollback and forth
U.S. EPA chief Mike Leavitt tried to put a happy face on the Bush administration's environmental agenda this week when he joined auto-industry kingpins at a glitzy media event in D.C. on Monday to celebrate a new generation of cleaner cars and fuels.

But, true to form, this past week has also seen the administration push out a steady stream of what environmentalists like to call "rollbacks" -- and Bush acolytes like to call "common-sense reforms":

-- On Jan. 22, Interior Secretary Gale Norton galled environmentalists when she approved a plan to open nearly 9 million acres of pristine land on Alaska's North Slope to oil exploration and drilling -- an aggressive effort to tap new energy sources in the region in the wake of the administration's failure to get their mitts on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

-- In a smaller but still significant move, the U.S. Forest Service opened 6,400 acres of federal land in Michigan's Huron National Forest to natural-gas and mineral-resource development. A Michigan company is already preparing to conduct a seismic survey using small explosives in the area.

-- The Forest Service also green-lighted a plan to triple logging levels in California's Sierra Nevada mountains as a "fire-prevention strategy." The plan officially jettisons many of the environmental restrictions governing tree removal and allows the cutting of old-growth trees up to 30 inches in diameter. Environmentalists are concerned that the logging will destroy the habitat of threatened and endangered species including the northern spotted owl, Pacific fisher, and willow flycatcher.

-- Last but not least, the EPA opted to reduce the monitoring requirements on smokestack emissions -- making testing rounds fewer and farther between -- after industry groups sued the agency for requiring them to do more testing than the Clean Air Act mandates. Critics countered that expanded testing efforts are crucial and that fewer air-polluting scofflaws will be busted if emission levels are measured less frequently. Of course, that might suit the Bush administration just fine.

Muck it up

Here at Muckraker, we always try to keep our eyes peeled and our ears to the ground (a real physiognomic challenge). The more sources we have, the better -- so if you are a fellow lantern-bearer in the dark caverns of the Bush administration's environmental policy, let us know. We welcome rumors, tips, whistleblowing, insider info, top-secret documents, or other useful tidbits on developments in environmental policy and the people behind them. Please send 'em along to muckraker@gristmagazine.com.

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