Bush's EPA Pick Comes With Outsider Insight

Stephen Johnson is praised by environmentalists but must serve an administration with focused on economic growth.

1 minute read

March 7, 2005, 7:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Over its 35-year history, the agency has become one of the tallest lightning rods in federal government. Environmentalists see it as their best official friend - when they're not suing it, that is. Some industrialists, builders, and farmers deride it as one of the greatest impediments to economic development and the free market.

...Into this political thicket comes Mr. Johnson, the first EPA administrator to rise from the ranks of agency professionals. He's a political appointee requiring Senate confirmation; but he's neither a politician... nor a state agency official seen as an activist."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Sunday, March 6, 2005 in The Christian Science Monitor

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