Enter George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. The new Administration promptly announced that it was unenthusiastic about those lawsuits and wanted them "reviewed" [see William Greider, "For Utilities the Fix is In," The Nation, July 23/30 2001].
This recommendation was enshrined in the house-that-Enron-built: Cheney's energy plan, the genesis of which remains a state secret. And while Attorney General John Ashcroft eventually gave a thumbs-up in his review of the suits, energy lobbyists by now have taken the measure of their friends in the White House. Cinergy and Virginia Electric--pens poised over the announcedsettlements--paused. And then walked away. Why settle if the other side isn't serious?
Why indeed. Recently, after twelve years with the EPA, Schaeffer resigned his post in protest.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, Schaeffer cited the new White House
budget, which he said would eliminate 200 enforcement positions and leave the EPA "desperately
short of the resources needed to deal with the large, sophisticated corporate defendants we face.
He also cited White House actions and statements that he said scuttled the possibility of
settlements to enforce the Clean Air Act.
Schaeffer's resignation letter to his staff was forwarded to the news media, and also
Congress. Schaeffer, 47, was surprised at the ensuing hullabaloo.
"It got a huge reaction. I'm kind of stunned by it," he said in an interview. "It seems to have hit a chord."
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W pays back his corporate campaign contributors by going soft on environmental standards!!! |
