President Bush has nominated Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This agency ranks just behind the U.S. Department of Agriculture in terms of its potential to affect life here in Montana, so it's one we pay a good deal of attention to.
Some people applaud Leavitt's sense of balance. Others decry his lack of it. Right there, that should tell you that "balance" is a loaded term that isn't very useful, especially when it comes to talking about the environment. Environmentalists almost never have anything good to say about the EPA or its administrators. And people who oppose environmental regulations are almost never happy with actions the EPA takes. Funny thing is, most of us have reason to cheer the results.
In reality, Leavitt's environmental views matter a great deal less than those of his soon-to-be boss, President Bush, or for that matter Bush's political strategists. The idea that the administrator of the EPA might dictate environmental policy to the White House is ludicrous. It goes the other way. Just ask the recently departed administrator, Christine Todd Whitman.
As a Western governor, Leavitt brings a valuable perspective to the EPA - which is to say a perspective a little more like our own. So many EPA decisions and actions have significant implications for the states, affecting quality of life as well as economies. There's nothing like being on the receiving end of a federal edict to give you an appreciation for consensus and pragmatism. Also, people of the West reflect what seems a paradoxical attitude toward the environment - treasuring clean air, clean water and pristine landscapes but often resistant to regulations aimed at protecting such things. Anyone who pays attention to this apparent contradiction soon understands that the conflict really isn't between people who value a healthful environment and people who don't. Rather, it's more a conflict between people who think there's only one way to skin a cat and people who think there may be others they'd like to try.
It's been more than 30 years since Richard Nixon signed the bill creating the EPA. In that time, we've had good EPA administrators and bad, but mostly Republican presidents who haven't exactly made environmental protection their highest priorities. Nevertheless, America's water, air and land have become cleaner, and life expectancy has lengthened. The record is one of slow but steady progress.
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