Terms: brown chris
Matches: 3    Displayed: 1

Categories

• Social Studies > Current Events > Environment
• Science > Ecology > Pollution
• Science > Ecology > Global Warming

Specific Results

1. Oversight for the Environment (The White House)
   "The Council on Environmental Quality coordinates federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives. The Council's Chair, James L. Connaughton who was appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, serves as the principal environmental policy adviser to the President. In addition, CEQ reports annually to the President on the state of the environment, oversees federal agency implementation of the environmental impact assessment process, and acts as a referee when agencies disagree over the adequacy of such assessments."
   
   The Council on Environmental Quality is led by James L. Connaughton. "Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Mr. Connaughton was a partner in the law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, in its Environmental Practice Group. His work covered a wide range of environmental policy issues, including environmental management and compliance assurance systems, legislation, regulation, international trade and standards, and ecological risk and natural resource damages assessment."
   
   According to the Sidley Austin Brown and Wood LLP Web site, the company represents the fossil fuel industry in the arena of regulation. "Most of our clients are natural gas pipelines and producers, crude oil and petroleum products pipelines or electric utilities."
   
   In other words, Connaughton represented the fossil fuel industry in legal conflicts against federal and state regulators. Appointing a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry to guide the U.S. government policies on protection of the environment appears to be the same as appointing a fox to watch over the henhouse. It appears to be a gross conflict of interest.
   
   Since the Council on Environmental Quality has oversight over the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal regulators for the environment, is such an appointment a corruption of the role of the federal government in regulating the fossil fuel industry? Christine Todd Whitman, who recently resigned as head of the EPA under President Bush, stated on PBS's NOW program aired on September 20, 2003, that Connaughton did, in fact, restrict the EPA's findings, especially on global warming issues, while she was the head of the EPA. 9-03