Protection Problems
February 27th, 2008There’s an interesting little drama unfolding at the EPA right now, and we should note it.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Stephen Johnson was scolded by senators Wednesday for ignoring his own staff’s advice in denying California’s tough limits on greenhouse gases from cars and trucks. Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, whose state is one of 18 states seeking to join California’s efforts, pointed to a memo released this week by a top EPA deputy who said Johnson should resign if he rejected the state’s request because he would lose his credibility. The process surrounding the decision “stinks to high heaven,” Whitehouse said at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committe on the EPA’s budget.
Johnson defended his decision, but also insisted that he never stifled the opinions of EPA staffers who disagreed with him.
“I cherish the ability to have candid comments” from staffers, Johnson said. “They also know for many of the decisions, the decision rests with me.”
California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who chairs the committee, made headlines Tuesday by releasing new memos showing that EPA staffers lobbied the administrator vigorously to support California’s request. One employee, Christopher Grundler, the deputy director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, went so far as to write talking points for former EPA chief William K. Reilly to lobby California’s case before Johnson. The memo warned Johnson that if he turned down the waiver, “you will face a pretty big personal decision about whether you are able to stay in the job under those circumstances.”
The committee’s ranking Republican, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, questioned whether Grundler’s advocacy violated the Hatch Act, which limits the ability of federal employees to lobby the government. “If this is true, at a minimum it’s a highly improper use of agency funds,” Inhofe said. But Johnson rose the employee’s defense, saying, “I have always encouraged my staff to give me candid and open advice and I still believe that.”
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said the memos suggested that Johnson paid little attention to his staff’s advice. “Your decision on the waiver, do you think that’s hurt morale?” Lautenberg asked. “No, I don’t,” Johnson said, saying the agency has been rated among the best places to work in federal government.
The EPA chief found himself on the defensive when he was pressed repeatedly by the panel’s Democrats to describe what role the White House played in his decision. Johnson said only that he’d had routine meetings with White House and executive branch officials, and that California’s request had been discussed. “Why won’t you answer whether or not there was White House input into that decision?” Whitehouse asked. Johnson said it would be inappropriate to discuss private meetings. “I prefer to keep those candid conversations as candid input to me,” he said.
Johnson deserves all the credit in the world for standing up on behalf of free speech and his workers at the Agency, but he should be ashamed of his policy. You know what he, and other agents of the EPA in Republican Administrations, would say? “We have done this, this and that; the idea that we close shop and allow the nation to be polluted willie nillie during Republican governments is untrue.” And they’d be right, of course. The EPA does fine work even under Bush, but let’s not forget that on the largest issues of the day they have been silent, soft or hostile, such as global warming. In that way, our environment has protection problems that won’t be solved until someone more friendly to the environment is elected President.