Whitman Says Cheney Undermined Her Efforts - All Together Now - "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!"

[hatrack]

EDIT

Whitman said she believed Bush would adopt a strong pro-environmental stance soon after taking office in 2001. But she began to doubt that when she attended a G8 environmental summit in Italy that same year. Prior to the summit, Whitman said Bush told her that he wanted to put a cap on carbon production, but would not adopt the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that called for mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. “When I got back, I got called over to the White House pretty quickly and told that not only were we not endorsing Kyoto but that the president was not going to put any cap on carbon,” said Whitman, echoing many of the claims she made in her 2005 book “It’s My Party, Too.”

“It was a decision that was made without much input from me or from EPA,” she said. “It was pretty uncomfortable.” Whitman put the blame squarely on Cheney. “He was an enormously influential player in environment and energy issues,” she said. Cheney “was able to influence the president,” she said.

The Bush administration argued that that regulating carbon emissions would lead to greater reliance on foreign oil.

Whitman resigned from the EPA in 2003, saying she wanted to be closer to her family. But in her book, she acknowledged she left because of policy disagreements. Still, she co-chaired Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign in New Jersey.

EDIT
Ed. - emphasis added

http://www.northjersey.com/environment/Whitman_say_Cheney_undermined_her_efforts.html

[rurallib]

1. Very timely Ms. Whitman

Might have done some good 7 or so years ago. But that would have taken courage.

[cosmicone]

2. She is just trying to sound green because she is running

for governor of Cali. She is a full fledged right winger at heart and no one should be fooled by this deathbed conversion.

[Bluestar]

8. I think this is Christine Whitman, not Meg Whitman

Christine was in Bush's cabinet, Meg was on McCain's election team. Meg is running for governor here in California. Both are Republicans.

[Warpy]

3. Whitman's terrified she's going to be called to account

for the damage her agency did to the 9/11 cleanup crew as well as to the country as a whole.

I think a lot of flunkies from the last administration will be blaming Cheney for what they did. He's an easy target.

[Mist]

4. And another Rethug tries to distance herself from the catastrophic */Cheney admin. But supporting

their re-election kinda steps all over that.

[Wapsie B]

5. I call bullshit on this one.

She actually believed a neocon would adopt a strong pro-environmental stance?


:rofl:

[bunkerbuster1]

6. I want to believe there are rational people still in the GOP...

and Whitman's one of the most rational-sounding ones.

Still, there's your emphasis-added business. Hard to square that, even though from a practical standpoint there was no way in hell Bush was going to win NJ in 2004.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. i'll give her a little bit of slack -

I suspect that if Bush had taken a pro-environment stance and had not backed off carbon caps she might have stayed on, and that she did resign because the administration was undercutting the very reason for her agency's existence. It actually fits her record.

The family story both she and Bushco knew was a cover for her bailing, and Bushco does not brook any opposition - particularly such as is evidenced by a mid-term resignation. She supported his re-election because she didn't want to worry every time she got on a plane.

Not admirable, but understandable.

[seafan]

9. I have NO tolerance for Christie Todd Whitman's hand-wringing.

Whitman says Cheney undermined her efforts, February 11, 2009

Christie Whitman said former Vice President Dick Cheney would often undermine her efforts to reduce carbon emissions during her tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

.....

We have Christine Todd Whitman to thank, among many, for protecting Bush., July, 2007


Whitman: Cheney pushed his own policies into all things energy-related., June, 2007



This woman let us know what she was all about during the 2000 recount in Palm Beach County, Florida. She inserted herself down here, flapping her gums to the nearest cameras:

GOV. CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN (R), NEW JERSEY: I do believe every vote should count, but you don't get to count every vote again and again and again and again. ---November 25, 2000, CNN

In the most extreme example of the Bush camp's desperation to avoid a recount, the new director of the Environment Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, has proposed that the Florida ballots be sealed for 10 years.

Bush's spokesman Tucker Eskew dismissed the recount as 'mischief-making' and 'inflaming public passions' while his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, accused the papers of 'trying to rewrite history'. ---UK Guardian, December 24, 2000

We will not 'get over it', Scalia.

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. Actually, I can imagine she did believe Bush would do something (at first)

In 2001, the Bush Administration had a "Cabinet-level working group" and requested a http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:7JA_0lprHTgJ:z22.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010611-2.html">report from the National Academy.

…

My Cabinet-level working group has met regularly for the last 10 weeks to review the most recent, most accurate, and most comprehensive science. They have heard from scientists offering a wide spectrum of views. They have reviewed the facts, and they have listened to many theories and suppositions. The working group asked the highly-respected National Academy of Sciences to provide us the most up-to-date information about what is known and about what is not known on the science of climate change.

First, we know the surface temperature of the earth is warming. It has risen by .6 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years. There was a warming trend from the 1890s to the 1940s. Cooling from the 1940s to the 1970s. And then sharply rising temperatures from the 1970s to today.

There is a natural greenhouse effect that contributes to warming. Greenhouse gases trap heat, and thus warm the earth because they prevent a significant proportion of infrared radiation from escaping into space. Concentration of greenhouse gases, especially CO₂, have increased substantially since the beginning of the industrial revolution. And the National Academy of Sciences indicate that the increase is due in large part to human activity.

…

You know, looking at that, it seems like he did the right thing, and got the right advice. However, in the next paragraph:

…

Yet, the Academy's report tells us that we do not know how much effect natural fluctuations in climate may have had on warming. We do not know how much our climate could, or will change in the future. We do not know how fast change will occur, or even how some of our actions could impact it.

…

That one paragraph really tells the whole story.