Arnold Scwharznegger's EPA Appointee Attacks President Bush

Oakland Tribune ^ | 11-14-03 | Douglas Fische

[Fred]

Oakland Tribune

Cal-EPA nominee left of most Democrats

Terry Tamminen puts governor at odds with Bush administration

By Douglas Fischer
STAFF WRITER

Friday, November 14, 2003 - Incoming California Environmental Protection Agency boss Terry Tamminen outlined an agenda Thursday that places the Schwarzenegger administration at odds with the Bush administration, while simultaneously defending the governor-elect's decision to put a timber industry executive in the agency's No. 2 slot and Bill Jones as the state resources chief.

"We have to get beyond balkanizing ourselves," Tamminen said shortly after addressing business leaders gathered for the 17th annual San Francisco Bay Decisionmakers Conference. "If I was to create an administration at Cal-EPA that was all one stripe, we'd be doomed to failure."

In his first public remarks since Schwarzenegger tapped him for California's top environmental spot, Tamminen said the environment remains one of the Republican governor's top concerns.

And the administration, he said, would be "quite an interesting" one.

Tamminen, a Santa Monica environmentalist who once raised sheep in Wisconsin and developed real estate in Florida, gained prominence after helping the Schwarzenegger campaign craft an environmental platform to the left of that of most Democrats in any other state.

But Tamminen's chief deputy at Cal-EPA will be James Branham, an executive with Pacific Lumber -- one of the state's largest timber companies and enemy No. 1 for many Northern California environmentalists.

And his counterpart at the state Resources Agency will be former-Secretary of State Bill Jones, who earned a lifetime score of 23 percent on the California League of Conservation Voter's environmental scorecard as a state assemblyman.

"We hope the troubled past of these appointees is not a prologue for our environmental future," said Rico Mastrodonato, the league's executive director.

Tamminen stressed that would not be so. Delivering the keynote address, he criticized President Bush's decision not to classify greenhouse gases as a pollutant and chided the Senate's recent efforts to void new state regulations on lawn mowers and other small polluting engines.

"Why, in the bigger policy arena, are we passing laws like Amber Alerts for one child, yet willing to put thousands of children in the hospital with asthma?" he asked. "I'm not standing here today saying I'm going into Cal-EPA to crack the whip and crack down on business."

But, he said, "our economy suffers when we put people into the hospital."

Contact Douglas Fischer at

dfischer@angnewspapers.com .

[Fred]

Looking forward to the carbon dioxide green shirts to become part of the Kennedy/Shriver administration...thanks Uncle Teddy..

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1022164/posts

[The Westerner]

No, it should be thanks Arnold. He can think and this is what he thinks...he's going to be worse than Davis on environment. And it's criminal because we're on the verge of having a better forestry policy. Now the momentum will be lost and Arnold won't be able to resist the greenie bottom feeders. I've got to stay off these threads. I can't stand to see Carry Okie say I told you so.

[sully777]

Message to all arnold supporters:

Put me on your ping list the moment you notice anything unusual about arnold's behavior, like say, he and his staff act conservative. Let me know. Thanks.

PS Kudos on winning the gubernatorial race for Davis and the dems. You were absolutely right, McClintock would have been the spoiler.

[Democratshavenobrains]

Much ado about nothing. How many times has Colin Powell said something dumb about Sharon or other Republicans?

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Shocking. Just shocking.

[WOSG]

Green shirts .... good one.

This idiot thinks CO2, the source of life for all plants is a pollutant.

'Nuff said.

[WOSG]

My letter to journalist ...

---

Douglas,

Your factual report on Terry Tamminen included a troubling detail from
his speech: "Delivering the keynote address, he [Tamminen] criticized President Bush's decision not to classify greenhouse gases as a pollutant"

This idiot thinks CO2, a key source of life for all plants on earth, is a "pollutant"? CO2 is not a health threat to any human or other living beings, and CO2 is no more a pollutant than oxygen, Water, or sunlight, the other material that life on earth depends on.

This proves Tamminen is hardly a suitable EPA administrator,
as he is willing to misinform the public to advance a dubious if not
extreme agenda.

[Reagan Man]

Director of the groups Environment Now and Energy Independence Now, Tamminen met Schwarzenegger through Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — another environmentalist and cousin of Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver.

From: Will Gov. Schwarzenegger be green?

[BlueElephant]

I wanted McClintock. Is Arnold really a conservative? I think not.

[nightdriver]

This idiot thinks CO2, a key source of life for all plants on earth, is a "pollutant"?

We ought to organize a group that would attend all of Tamminen's speaches and yell out for him to shut up because every time he exhales, he puts out more of that nasty pollutant, CO₂ into the atmosphere.

[GraniteStateConservative]

And his counterpart at the state Resources Agency will be former-Secretary of State Bill Jones, who earned a lifetime score of 23 percent on the California League of Conservation Voter's environmental scorecard as a state assemblyman.

I hadn't seen this before today. Should this be read as a sign that he won't run against Boxer?

[snopercod]

Tamminen, a Santa Monica environmentalist who once...developed real estate in Florida...

Now he's found an easier way to make the price of his real estate go up. Much easier than developing it.

[snopercod]

I can't stand to see Carry Okie say I told you so.

As soon as this recall got underway, I predicted that California would elect a bigger socialist than Davis.

I told you so. Nyaaaa-nyaaaaa. Pzzzzzzzzzttthhhhhhh!

[Carry_Okie]

I've got to stay off these threads. I can't stand to see Carry Okie say I told you so.

Sorry to hear that. You might, instead, consider learning why it works out this way.

[Torie]

The Jones story has not yet been confirmed according to a GOP state senator who was on the Hugh Hewitt radio talk show yesterday.

[JohnnyZ]

"Former Secretary of State Bill Jones is still under consideration as resources secretary, two transition officials said, though Jones also could forgo the post to challenge U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer next year."

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/7269555.htm

[KneelBeforeZod]

Arnolds people dont need to be hassling president Bush. It will take time/effort away from giving illegal aliens amnesty and whatever else vincente fox wants.

[Clintonfatigued]

Probably. The best hope for Republicans is that Congressman David Dreier will run. Last thing I heard, he is undecided.

[The Westerner]

"Using a charitable foundation, to use the law to force people to use your product, to use regulatory power to keep competitors out of the market or force them into selling or go bankrupt, and to protect you from liability for your product in order to reap a guaranteed profit is tax-exempt racketeering, and on a grand scale."

I tried to follow the post. It is so complicated a game, that if I were to attempt to understand it, I'd have to give up my day job! But thank you for the work you've done. I sincerely appreciate it. It reminds me of the novel Atlas Shrugged, my favorite. I could follow the complex wheelings and dealings of the amoral businessmen and government flunkies in the novel, but not in real life.