Whitman May Fit In at EPA
Copyright 2000 Associated Press
December 20, 2000
By LAURENCE ARNOLD, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Passionate about the outdoors, Republican Christie Whitman made preservation a priority as New Jersey governor but never managed to convince environmentalists she was one of them.
Whitman, described by GOP sources as President-elect Bush's choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, championed open-space preservation in the nation's most densely developed state and refused to abandon an unpopular auto emissions test designed to reduce air pollution.
Yet critics say that in the name of attracting businesses, she compromised water pollution protections and cut spending for state offices that prosecute environmental abuses by industry.
``She'll sound good and do the opposite,'' said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. ``She's better at putting a green face on things.''
Whitman, an avid mountain biker and skier, insists she retained needed protections while eliminating red tape.
``I am happy to have a discussion about the environmental record here in New Jersey any time,'' she said Tuesday after signing legislation to buy and preserve $8.3 million in farmland. ``We have figured out a cooperative way to go forward.''
Renew America, a nonprofit group that urges cooperation between environmentalists and industry, has honored Whitman for her work.
Hal Bozarth, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of New Jersey, said Whitman ``tried to correct the imbalance between economic development and environmental protection. You really can't have one at the exclusion of the other.''
Whitman would not comment Wednesday about her future.
If nominated by Bush and approved by the Senate, Whitman would succeed Carol Browner, who has led the EPA during all eight years of the Clinton administration
Whitman, 54, was elected in 1993 as New Jersey's first female governor. She has a year left in her second term and is barred by the state constitution from running again.
A prototype of the moderate Northeastern Republican, Whitman focused on cutting taxes while also supporting abortion rights, affirmative action and gay rights.
As EPA chief, Whitman would not be in the Cabinet nor involved in social policy, possibly allowing Bush to avoid criticism over her abortion position and charges that her administration tolerated racial profiling by state troopers.
Whitman faced her biggest crisis last year when a 4-year-old photograph was released showing her frisking a black youth during a police tour in Camden, N.J., in 1996. Whitman called her actions ``dumb'' but stopped short of apologizing.
On the environmental front, Whitman drew widespread praise for her commitment to preserve 1 million acres of open space and farmland over 10 years in New Jersey.
But Whitman and liberal environmental groups have been at odds from the start. Soon after taking office Whitman declared New Jersey ``open for business,'' fired the state's environmental prosecutor and cut funds to the Department of Environmental Protection. The number of violations and fines soon dropped.
Whitman is chairman of the Pew Oceans Commission, formed last spring by the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts to study pollution, overfishing, coastal development and the health of marine life. The commission has met twice and is due to release a report to Congress and the White House in 2002.
Leon Panetta, a former chief of staff to President Clinton and the commission's vice chairman, said he has been impressed by Whitman's ability to balance competing interests represented on the Pew panel.
``And if EPA is about anything,'' he said, ``it's about trying to resolve some very difficult differences among constituents.''
Former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a friend of Whitman and fellow Republican, said Whitman has been more involved with land preservation than with issues more relevant to the EPA such as ocean, air, water and soil pollution.