Environmental groups
warn President against appointment of Engler to head EPA
In
Letter to Bush, Groups Say Rumored Choice of Outgoing Michigan
Governor Would Underscore "Contempt" for Environment
|
For
Immediate Release:
December 19, 2002
|
Contacts:
Dave Dempsey, Michigan Environmental Council - 517-487-9539
Mike
Garfield, Ecology Center - 734-761-3186 x 104
|
Twenty
six Michigan environmental groups warned President George
W. Bush not to appoint outgoing Governor John Engler as Administrator
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying that Engler
is "unfit for duty" in the agency.
In
a letter to the President, the groups, representing tens of
thousands of Michiganders, pointed out that in his final days
as governor, Engler is attempting to negotiate an unprecedented
weakening of dioxin cleanup standards to benefit Dow Chemical
Company, setting a dangerous national precedent.
Two
recent media reports have listed Engler on a short list of
candidates for EPA Administrator to replace incumbent Christine
Todd Whitman, who is rumored to be considering a departure
from the EPA post.
The
groups told Bush that Engler "has demonstrated a consistent
contempt for the environmental laws enacted in Michigan and
the United States since the 1960s," and pointed out that
the Bush Administration has had a difficult time establishing
a credible track record on environmental policy.
They
added, "We believe you would be better served by a candidate
with strong credentials in conservation and environmental
protection. Based on years of poor performance and a disappointing
track record, we believe that Governor Engler is unfit for
duty in the EPA and must not be considered for any position
entrusted with the protection of our nation's environment
or the health of our citizens."
In
addition to his Administration's last-minute bid to raise
the permissible level of dioxin in soils by nearly ten-fold
to benefit, the groups point out that Engler has previously
defied the EPA itself by refusing to warn women of child-bearing
age about the risks of PCBs in contaminated Great Lakes sportfish,
resisting federal requirements that discharges of polluted
water from animal factories be brought under enforceable environmental
permits, and by unsuccessfully suing the agency to block tougher
clean air standards.
Groups
signing the letter include the Michigan Environmental Council,
Michigan Interfaith Coalition for Creation, American Lung
Association, Michigan Resource Stewards, Northern Michigan
Environmental Action Council, Clean Water Action, West Michigan
Environmental Action Council, Mid-Michigan Environmental Action
Council, Ecology Center, Lone Tree Council, Hamtramck Environmental
Action Team, Cadillac Area Citizens for Clean Air, Friends
of the Cedar Watershed Inc., Michigan Citizens Against Toxic
Substances, Michigan Coalition on the Environment and Jewish
Life, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination,
Northwoods Services, Michigan Drain Code Coalition, Friends
of the Detroit River, Environmental and Energy Consultants,
Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, Tittabawasee River
Watch, Cadillac Area Citizens for Clean Air, Citizens United
for Action (CUFA), Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance
(MOFFA) and Friends of the Crystal River
