Bush Picks Utah Governor to Become Head of EPA (Gov. Leavitt of Utah to head EPA)

Washington Post ^ | 8/11/03 | John Heilprin

[cache22]

President Bush has picked Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, an advocate of shifting environmental regulation to the states, to become head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a senior administration official said Monday.

Leavitt, a three-term Republican governor, would succeed Christie Whitman, a former New Jersey governor who held the post of EPA administrator for the first two and a half years of the administration before resigning in May.

[Tony in Hawaii]

Which wackos? Our wackos or theirs? :)

[EternalVigilance]

What happened to Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne who was thought to have the inside track for this nomination?

They decided they just couldn't live with someone named 'Dirk'...

;-)

[Mo1]

I don't like this. mikie, though mostly conservative historically, will stick his finger in the air.

That doesn't sound good

[EternalVigilance]

It is hard for me to believe his hands were clean in the whole Olympic scandal thing. He was right in the thick of it all, and I just don't know how he didn't know about the corruption.

The ones who are taking the fall for it all are likely headed for prison.

Mike Leavitt is headed for Washington.

Hooray...

[comnet]

Maurice Strong is one of the most influential men in the world. He is a senior advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and former senior advisor to the President of the World Bankhttp://www.iaed.org/books/strong.html

[glock rocks]

there's plenty of whacko's to go around.

the enviralwhacko's won't like him...

and us "Ronald Reagan was a moderate" whacko's won't either!

[EternalVigilance]

And the relevance of that is what?

[glock rocks]

This could have been a political play, just to get Leavitt out of office.

er Mikie's numbers weren't up to par... a cut-yer-losses deal... who knows?

[dr_who_2]

Leavitt! Kind of reminds me of that song by the band Yes.

[ImpeachandRemove]

yep, the wackos are upset. Heres' the Sierrites...

"The Sierra Club today announced its opposition to the nomination of Governor Mike Leavitt for EPA Administrator because of his anti-environmental record as Governor of Utah. Governor Mike Leavitt’s environmental track record, which includes working behind closed doors with Interior Secretary Gale Norton to open up Utah’s wildlands to polluting industries, suggests that he will be a good fit for the Bush administration but a disappointing choice for Americans concerned with environmental protection."

[Rubber Duck]

"The Sierra Club today announced its opposition to the nomination of Governor Mike Leavitt for EPA Administrator . . ."

This endorsement alone make him well-qualified in my book.

[Fellow Traveler]

I don't think the Sierra Club's endorsement of Mike Leavitt is shrill enough. The Sierra Club's press release did not use the words fascist, nazi, holocaust. It made now mention of killing our children or leaving the country a despoiled wasteland. Obviously Mike Leavitt could not be qualified based on the Sierra Club's mild reaction.

[Little Bill]

Mike will be what ever Mike wants to be, a Republican Governor forced into a primary, rocking in my home state.

One of the problems with Bush, and I spent a lot of Time and Money, and Effort getting him elected, is the semirats he appoints to office.

[Utah Girl]

President Bush and Mike Leavitt are quite good friends, it goes back to when President Bush was governor of Texas.

[Utah Girl]

I guess I will be the lone voice and say I like Mike Leavitt. I think he has been a pretty good governor. He's compromised, and he has stuck his finger in the eye of the EPA by forcing some compromises.

[Kuksool]

Will Utah say hello to Gov. Jim Matheson in 2004?

[logician2u]

This could have been a political play, just to get Leavitt out of office.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad to see him out as Governor.

He was one of the most vocal advocates for taxing purchases made over the Internet.

At EPA, it's unlikely he will have many opportunities to pursue that statist's dream.

[ladyinred]

But of course the rats are already attacking the choice. Yawn.

[bluefish]

LOL. I at least got it. There was another thread saying they were removing the "unappetizing warning" on the label because the warning was was overblown. Wasn't it Olestra btw?