Environmentalists Sounding the Alarm on Interior Nominee
Copyright 2000 CNN
December 29, 2000
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: Environmentalists are sounding alarms about Gale Norton. In Colorado, Norton has locked horns with federal environmental officials, and she believes polluters can police themselves when it comes to environmental guidelines.
We have more on Norton's record from CNN's David George.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GEORGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You might say there is a bit of deja vu surrounding President-elect Bush's pick for interior secretary. Gale Norton, a veteran of the Reagan administration Interior Department, is set to take charge of America's natural resources and national parks.
GALE NORTON, INTERIOR SECRETARY NOMINEE: I welcome the opportunity to work with President-elect Bush to preserve our wonderful national treasures, to restore endangered species, and to help Americans enjoy the great outdoors.
GEORGE: But not everyone shares the nostalgic feeling. Within hours of the announcement came furious reaction from environmentalists.
BRENT BLACKWELDER, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: What we know about Gale Norton is that she spent four years with one of the most anti- environmental organizations in the country, the Mountain States Legal Foundation. This was a foundation that made James Watt famous.
GEORGE: The battle lines appear to be clear. As an Interior Department lawyer under her controversial mentor James Watt, Norton wrote memos arguing to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. That debate, still unresolved, has emerged again 18 years later with uncertainties about our fossil fuel supplies.
As Colorado's attorney general for eight years in the '90s, Norton took a solid stand against what she sees as heavy-handed federal control of public lands and environmental laws. It is a hot- button issue for the ages in the West and the interior secretary designate staked her claim.
NORTON: An entire one-third of our land is owned by the federal government. Together with the other departments that own that land, the Department of the Interior faces the challenge of seeing that our land is used in an environmentally responsible way.
GEORGE: Much of that Western scorn has focused on outgoing Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who took aggressive action to set land off limits, to preserve habitat, and protect endangered species. Fighting words to many ranchers, loggers, and miners, who see federal controls as a threat to their livelihoods.
David George, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATERS: Joining us now from Los Angeles, CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider.
Bill, only three picks to go. We have a better idea now of the strategy here of George W. Bush. What do you think it is?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: It is a Santa Claus strategy, Lou, it is something for everybody. Santa Claus is a pretty popular fellow, you know, he gets high job ratings, that is what Bush is going for, but he has a couple of African-Americans in the Cabinet, Colin Powell, now Rod Paige for education; he has got women in the Cabinet; he's got a Hispanic in the Cabinet, plus several minorities on his White House staff. There are moderate Republicans, there are conservative Republicans, he really tried to touch all the bases.
But, so far, only one constituency that he wants to reach out to is missing, there hasn't been a Democrat named to the Cabinet or to important White House position yet.
WATERS: Why is he having so much trouble finding a Democrat, high-ranking Democrat?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think any Democrat who joins the Bush administration is likely to poison his relationship with other Democrats, his or her, because of the bitterness of the post-election episode.
I think a Democrat, like John Breaux, whom he spoke to early on, if he were to join the Bush administration it would limit his future in the Democratic Party.
WATERS: Now we have this immediate sounding of alarms over Gale Norton. We have abortion rights proponents against Tommy Thompson. We got confirmation hearings coming up. Who do you expect to be most controversial among those chosen to be in the Bush Cabinet?
SCHNEIDER: No question who's going to get the most trouble, and that is John Ashcroft. Bush's nominee for attorney general. He has very controversial views on all the hot button social issues. He opposes abortion rights very strongly, he has been critical of Affirmative Action, he opposes gay rights. He is going to be given a very tough confirmation hearing.
But one of the reasons Bush picked him, clearly, is that he is a senator right now. He was defeated for reelection next year. He is currently a senator, and senators tend to give a lot of deference to one of their own. So, therefore, they might treat him a little bit more gently.
But liberal groups are gearing up to oppose the Ashcroft nomination not because they think they can defeat him, but it's a test run, a sort of shot across the bow, when Bush names a Supreme Court nominee, if he names anyone like Ashcroft, they're going to be ready.
WATERS: You have taken a look at the new Census numbers, political reapportionment, and have some interesting take on what would have happened if the census had been in place for the election we just went through?
SCHNEIDER: That's right. When they reported the Census yesterday, eight states gained electoral votes, seven of those states were Bush states; only one, California, voted for Gore. And of the 10 states that are going to be losing electoral votes, six were Gore states, only four were Bush states.
So, in the end, in the election we just had, that endless election, Bush beat Gore by a very narrow margin, just 4 electoral vote, 271-267. But if you substitute the new count of electoral votes, reported yesterday by the Census for the old count that prevailed -- that pertained to the election we just had, Bush would have beaten Gore by 18 electoral votes, still close, but in the new count of electoral votes, Bush would have gotten 278 and Gore 260. So what it shows is that the Bush states are the states that are growing in the country, the Gore states have grown much less rapidly.
WATERS: Fascinating, Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst. Happy new year, Bill.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you.