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New
Head of the Environmental Protection Agency |
Posted:
10.29.03
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The governor of Utah is about to take charge of the Environmental
Protection Agency, the organization at the center of heated debates
about land, air and water policies throughout the country.
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Despite long delays caused by Democrats who have repeatedly criticized
the administration's environmental record, the Senate approved
Gov. Mike Leavitt on Tuesday.
 When
President Bush nominated Leavitt in August, he said the governor
"has been a leader in applying high standards in air quality,
and he understands the importance of clear standards in every
environmental policy."
"He respects the ability of state and local governments
to meet those standards, rejects the old ways of command and control
from above," the president said.
Though the 100-member Senate voted 88-8 for Leavitt's confirmation,
some senators still doubted his qualifications.
"Do we really want to return to the days when rivers caught
fire and people literally keeled over from air pollution?"
asked Sen. Frank Lautenberg, (D-N.J.), one of the senators who
voted against Leavitt.
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Who is Michael
Leavitt? |
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Mike Leavitt, 52, has served 11 years as the governor of Utah.
When he resigns on Nov. 5 to take the EPA position, Lt. Gov. Olene
Walker will become Utah's first female governor.
 Leavitt,
a former insurance executive has been popular in the Republican
state, maintaining 75 percent approval ratings. However, he has
received mixed reviews for his environmental record in Utah.
Environmental groups claim that Leavitt weakened environmental
regulatory agencies, allowed businesses to create their own voluntary
agreements instead of mandatory requirements, fought for roads
to be built in protected wetlands and overlooked scientific evidence.
Leavitt defended his record to the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee, citing the cleanup of water contaminated at the
Kennecott Copper Mine, the largest mine-related water reclamation
project in U.S. history. He also talked about organizing a partnership
of states, American Indian tribes, environmentalists and industry
representatives to reduce the air pollution over the Grand Canyon.
Leavitt says his environmental philosophy is based on the Latin
word enlibra. "It means 'to move toward balance,'" he
explained. "To me, there is an inherent human responsibility
to care for the earth. But there's also an economic imperative
that we're dealing with in a global economy to do it less expensively."
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Democratic
Opposition |
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Tuesday's vote was delayed by Democratic members of the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee who boycotted an Oct. 1
meeting to confirm Leavitt. While some of the Democrats opposed
Leavitt, a majority used the confirmation process to highlight
the environmental issues they felt the Bush administration has
been avoiding.
"The Bush administration is weakening the Clean Air Act,
it is weakening the Clean Water Act and it is not cleaning up
Superfund sites. We have a right to know why. There are life and
death issues," independent Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont
said when he showed up at the Oct. 1 committee meeting just long
enough to voice his complaints.
 Sen.
Hilary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) used the hearings to criticize
the EPA for not warning about potentially hazardous conditions
at the World Trade Center site following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Minutes before the vote on Tuesday, Clinton said she would vote
for Leavitt's confirmation after receiving a letter from the president's
council saying it would offer additional measures to protect New
York City residents.
"I'm pleased we've made this progress with the White House
… and I hope their cooperation is an indication of a new
attitude," Clinton said.
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About the
EPA |
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The EPA has been the center of controversy since its inception in 1970. Growing
public concern for the environment led President Nixon and Congress
to create an agency to repair some of the environmental damage
that had been plaguing the nation for years.
 Though
the EPA is not an official Cabinet-level department, the administrator
who is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate,
holds the same status as the secretaries of departments such as
transportation and labor.
The administrator has been invited by President Bush to sit in
on all the Cabinet meetings. Congress is pushing for full Cabinet
status for the EPA, which would create a Department of Environmental
Protection and an EPA secretary.
Leavitt replaces Christine Todd Whitman who retired in May.
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What's up
next? |
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A top priority for the new
administrator will be the "Clear Skies" proposal, which
allows companies who emit pollution to buy clean air credits from
other companies. Another is "New Source Review" which
allows many of the nations' coal-burning power plants to modernize
without adding expensive new pollution controls. The policy modifies
the federal Clean Air Act of 1977 that made anti-pollution devices
mandatory any time a plant upgraded.
--Sheryl
Silverman, Online NewsHour
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