Critics line up to take shot at Leavitt

Wilson: Will the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works please come to order. Today, we have the president's nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency to be reviewed before the committee. The committee will vote upon the nominee before sending his name to the floor of the Senate for final ratification.

First we go to Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, an Independent but ranking minority member since he votes with the Democrats. Jeffords: "Governor Leavitt, I come from a very environmentally conscious state. What would your limited experience in the West do to prepare you to deal with the acid rain my state suffers from the Great Lakes?"

And now to Max Baucus of Montana: "Governor Leavitt, we of Montana think you have been a fine governor. But what do you know of the northern Rockies?"

Next, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada: "Let me tell you, Mike. I am angry about your fight against the nuclear storage project in Tooele County that caused your Senators Hatch and Bennett to vote to put all that waste in Nevada. Why did you do that?"

"Governor, I am Bob Graham and I am running for president. If you think I am going to vote for you and have all those environmental votes at my convention go down the sink, you are crazy."

"My name is Joseph Lieberman, governor. And I am a Bob Graham ditto head. And proud of it, by the way."

"Governor, I am Barbara Boxer. Have you thought of filing for governor in California? You would do as well there as you will in this committee. I represent about 15 million greenies. What did you say the population of Utah is?"

"And my name is Ron Wyden of Oregon. Got any spotted owls out in those Utah trees? You do have trees in Utah, don't you? Your license plates say 'Ski Utah.' Ours say 'Log Oregon.' "

"My name is Thomas Capener of Delaware. Did you enjoy the Olympics? What did you know and when did you know about the Olympic bribery?"

Finally, let's turn to the last member of the committee. She's a rather quiet, laid-back woman named Hillary Clinton of New York: "Governor, don't you think President Bush made a big mistake in rejecting the Kyoto Treaty on global warming that Bill worked so hard on?"

They may not be talking that way. But that's exactly what they will be thinking. By the time it is over, Gov. Mike Leavitt may think the Utah State Legislature is not so bad after all.

Webb: So now it is time for Mike Leavitt to deploy his considerable political skills at a different, and much tougher, level. It will be interesting to watch. No doubt, he is going to get roughed up and kicked around by the Gang of Three -- the national news media, the national environmental groups and the Democratic senators.

But they won't really be going after him. They'll be after President Bush and the 2004 election. Leavitt's confirmation will simply provide a platform to beat up Bush and try out some sound bites. Leavitt need not take it personally, and he won't. He and his antagonists know this isn't really about Leavitt. It's not really even about the environment. It's about politics and the 2004 presidential election.

The news media will dig into Leavitt's environmental record in Utah and find things to criticize, things that will be picked up by the Democratic senators. The environmental groups will also feed them all sorts of old and discredited issues like whirling disease. At times they will smell a little blood and it will seem like a feeding frenzy.

In the end, Leavitt will be confirmed and become EPA chief, and he will have demonstrated restraint, humor, patience and even a dose of charm. His moderate, balanced approach to environmental management will come through.

The reality is, you can't be a western governor and please the national environmental groups. Their agendas are too extreme and radical. The Sierra Club wants to drain Lake Powell. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance wants more than 9 million acres of BLM wilderness. They oppose the Legacy Highway, preferring to leave all of northern Utah stranded whenever an accident happens on I-15.

These are extreme positions, not mainstream positions. A governor, thankfully, represents mainstream political thought and the people who elected him or her. A governor answers to the voters, not to radical environmental groups. The vast majority of Utahns don't want Lake Powell drained. They want a moderate amount of wilderness, somewhere around 3-4 million acres. They support the Legacy Highway.

Whenever I accuse these environmental groups of being extremists, I get a lot of e-mail from angry people. But I use the term very advisedly. An extremist is someone who is out of the mainstream, who holds positions far different than the vast majority of citizens. The label fits.

Democrat Cecil Andrus fought with environmentalists when he was governor of Idaho. Democrat Scott Matheson declared himself a "Sagebrush Rebel" when he was governor of Utah. Can you imagine his sons, Scott Jr. and Jim, campaigning for governor and Congress, respectively, while advocating that Lake Powell be drained and that 9.1 million acres be locked up as wilderness? It would be political suicide to adopt Sierra Club and SUWA positions.

So just understand where the criticism of Leavitt is coming from.

I believe Bush selected Leavitt, in part, because Leavitt can create and articulate a persuasive environmental vision for the Bush administration. Leavitt brings a clear-cut environmental philosophy to the table. It centers around Enlibra, the environmental doctrine formally adopted by all the nation's governors, that he has been touting for several years.

As EPA chief, Leavitt may or may not continue to call it Enlibra, but you can bet the Bush administration will soon be using the Enlibra principles and Enlibra phrases. It is a very good philosophy, representing mainstream environmental thought.

Leavitt is a terrific administrator, a very hard worker, and a keen strategist. Still, it wouldn't be fair to expect great successes or dramatic accomplishments. EPA is as tough a job as exists. If he doesn't get chewed up and spit out, consider it a win. If he can battle the job to a draw for a couple of years, he will have done just fine.

Democrat Ted Wilson, former Salt Lake mayor, directs the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. E-mail: tednews@hotmail.com. Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lavarrwebb@msn.com

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