Bush renominates controversial industry folk to environmental positions
President Bush is recycling — nominees, that is. To fill three top environmental jobs in his administration, Bush has re-suggested three folks with ties to polluting industries, all of whom were blocked by Congress the first time they were nominated. William Wehrum, temporary-seeking-permanent administrator for the EPA’s air office, has previously proposed discontinuing maximum air lead limits; Alex A. Beehler, EPA inspector-general wannabe, has lobbied to weaken standards for perchlorate in drinking water; and Susan Dudley, hopeful for White House regulations chief, once wrote that in calculating drinking-water arsenic levels, the EPA should value older people’s lives less than younger people’s. This time around, Bush may avoid the congressional approval process by making recess appointments while the Senate is on break. Says Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), “I view it as an enormous threat to public health that the president refuses to back off.” Guess a Decider’s gotta do what a Decider’s gotta do.
