Governor Gregoire to head the EPA? Look to the past to see the future.

Governor Gregoire is rumored to be under consideration to head the Environmental Protection Agency. It would be a mistake of monumental proportions to believe a life-long Washington state politician, unable to take a stand against business interests over the environment, is the person to put in charge of protecting the environment, in whatever position, but especially the EPA. [click for a general overview of the Governor's effectiveness here]

Excluded from SEPA by Department of Ecology

In her waning days of office she supported the Department of Ecology's allowing developments of up to 30 homes to be excluded from the State Environmental Policy Act. [click]

 

"An example to the rest of the globe." 

At the Ocean Acidification press conference, the Governor was asked whether exporting hundreds of tons of coal through Washington to China, the largest emitter of CO2, was really a good idea. She hid behind "the process" and refused to take a stand. [click here for a 1 minute video clip of her response] Unlike other West Coast Governors, present and past, who took a clear stand against exporting coal, and demonstrating leadership and a broad/long-term awareness of the environment, she simply side stepped the issue. Worse, she then went on to explain how Washington state needed to be "an example to the rest of the globe" on moving to clean energy. Given other opportunities to explain how exporting coal to China was setting "an example" she faded into political sound-bites.

What "dressing down" the Governor can get you. 

Last December she was reminded how the then head of the Department of Ecology had been "dressed down" by the shellfish industry for lack of action on water problems. [click here] In their current push to expand their developments in the tidelands and waters of Puget Sound, she is now being pressed for further reductions of regulatory oversight by "streamlining" the permit process for their these developments. Through "executive actions," millions of dollars are being pulled from other programs to support an industry whose problems are, in part, of  their own making (e.g., "Hatching" non-native Pacific oysters in colder waters has been a problem since its introduction in the early 1900's. Genetically modifying the species to create sterility for year-round edibility only adds additional stress to the life cycle.)

Puget Sound is being transformed

through the Governor's "leadership."

As Mr. Ruckelshaus clearly remembers as first head of the EPA, the protection of the environment is not always in the best interest of business. Resisting the pressures created from profits at the expense of ecosystems destroyed in "the process" requires strong leadership to face down industries far more significant than the shellfish industry. It also requires far more than day-to-day sound bites created by local Public Relations firms, where the Governor's skills may be better suited.

Get involved in "the process." Contact the President and your representatives and tell them there are better choices to head the EPA and protect the environment.
[Click here to contact the President]
[Click here to find your Representative]