Thursday, Jul 24, 2008
Fearing a return to the days of James Watt, green activists mobilize to spike Bush's environmental nominees.
Jan 11, 2001 | As George W. Bush heads to the White House, green activists are preparing to take several of the president-elect's Cabinet nominees to the mat over their positions on the environment.
The activists view Bush's appointees, particularly former Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton, as "a declaration of war" and have vowed to block her confirmation. They're not much happier with attorney general pick John Ashcroft, or would-be Energy Secretary Spence Abraham. Bush has also appointed a 38-member transition team on interior issues, which the New York Times described as reading like a "Who's Who of representatives of affected industries." The Wall Street Journal called the group Bush/Cheney Inc. because of its coziness with major industries such as logging and mining.
Environmentalists are launching their assault on Bush's nominees at the same time that lame-duck president Bill Clinton has been moving swiftly and provocatively during his remaining days in office to enact ambitious environmental policies. Clinton has used his executive powers to set aside vast areas of American wilderness, infuriating industry leaders and state politicians in the process. Earlier this week, Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck barred the cutting of all old-growth trees on public lands, a policy that would reduce by half the amount of wood cut on federal lands.
Clinton's announcement last week that he was putting an end to most logging on more than 58 million acres of national forest land outraged Republicans in Western states and loggers who say they will be hurt by the new regulations. The new "roadless rules" prohibit new road construction on federal lands without roads, and most cutting and removal of timber in those areas. On Tuesday, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne sued to block the new rules. President-elect Bush has also promised to review Clinton's whirlwind of 11th hour regulations.
But some green Republicans praised Clinton's surprise move. "I am pleased that the president has agreed to carry on President Teddy Roosevelt's legacy by establishing a policy to protect the untouched roadless areas of our national forests," says Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif., adding, "Commercial mining and logging already has damaged the existing 400,000 miles of roads, jeopardized safe public access, and degraded water quality in our nation's forests."
Clinton's actions reflect both policy and politics. Throughout his White House tenure, the Clinton administration has gone head to head with Republicans over the environment. When the Republicans retook control of Congress in 1994, Clinton consistently fought to kill provisions tacked onto spending bills that he said would adversely affect the environment -- and was willing to let the legislative process grind to a halt to do so. In fact, Clinton's unwillingness to budge on environmental issues was one of the factors that led to the massive government shutdown of 1995.
In his final days, Clinton has moved urgently -- some would say desperately -- to shore up his legacy with acts that would dwarf his impeachment and the cloud of scandal that surrounded much of his two terms as president. His action to save millions of acres of pristine forest, like his down-to-the-wire negotiations on Middle East peace and his pardoning of some nonviolent drug offenders, carries the stamp of deep personal conviction. But at the same time, his last-minute maneuvering is also a shrewd political move. By staking out a bold pro-environmental position, Clinton is laying a trap for Republicans, forcing the GOP either to publicly overturn his regulations -- and thus risk being seen by the American public as the party of environmental destruction -- or have to live with what they view as onerous and extreme anti-growth regulations.
And once again, the GOP seems willing to play the role of environmental bad guy. While Bush's selection to head the Environmental Protection Agency, New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, is seen as a moderate, environmentalists are fuming over the selection of the hard-line Norton, whose association with controversial Reagan-era Interior Secretary James Watt is enough to make environmentalists spit nails every time her name is mentioned. Norton has long championed drilling and exploration for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, known as ANWR, one of the totems of the American environmental movement. They are also focusing on Attorney General-designate Ashcroft, who received consistently low marks from environmental groups while he was a senator. The League of Conservation Voters gave Ashcroft a zero score in each of its four most recent annual scorecards of congressional votes on issues that affect the environment.
Clinton's actions in his final days will help Democrats distinguish themselves from Republicans on the environment -- an issue on which Americans hold views closer to Democrats than Republicans, polls show. They also ensure that a fight will continue for years to come over the environment, both in the political arena and in the courts.
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