THY ROD AND THY STAFF, THEY DISTURB ME
Bush [Administration's] EPA and Interior stocked with industry lawyers and
lobbyists

New York Newsday is running a series called "Erasing the Rules" about the
Bush administration's coordinated efforts to remove or weaken regulations on
industry.  Of particular interest to Gristians will be
the third installment, about the administration's staffing of the U.S. EPA,
Interior Department, and Agriculture Department with lawyers and lobbyists
drawn directly from industries those agencies regulate.  While [the Bush
administration has had little luck persuading Congress to weaken the Clean
Air Act or allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge --
perhaps because open debate on these unpopular measures draws undue public
attention -- [they have] been able to drastically alter the regulatory
landscape, thanks in part to agencies staffed with industry veterans.
Newsday's analysis of public personnel records shows that Bush
[administration] appointments at the top level have been markedly less
diverse than Clinton's, who spread them more evenly over lawyers and
lobbyists, nonprofit workers, and academics.  "With this administration, it
seems like everybody at the political level here has either a close
attachment with industry or with an ultra-conservative think tank or legal
organization," said a long-time EPA attorney who elected, probably wisely,
to remain anonymous.

straight to the source:  New York Newsday, Dan Fagin, 12 Oct 2004
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3304>

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