Environmental Brakes
IN the Bush administration's environmental policy the Sununu factor appears critical. Chief of Staff John Sununu, whose pro-business leanings are no secret, has succeeded in watering down federal wetlands policy and cooling a presidential address on global warming. Mr. Sununu's instinct to protect business against what he sees as burdensome environmental regulation is in the mainstream of recent Republican policymaking. But the current Senate debate over clean air legislation shows that the business-versus-environment struggle ignores partisan lines.
Sununu, however, is not a lawmaker pleading constituents' interests. He's an eminent White House insider, and his confidential comments and flicks of the editing pencil help determine Bush's environmental leadership.
The wetlands debate frames environmental tensions in stark terms: Will mall and airport developers be allowed to wipe out ecosystems that nurture wildlife, purify water, and ease flooding?
The president has pledged ``no net loss'' of wetlands. The tough policy announced this week includes a provision that when wetlands are destroyed, new marshland must be created to compensate. Through the efforts of Sununu and others of like mind, an exception to that rule was made for regions where wetlands are abundant. The specific goal is to ease oil drilling in Alaska's tundra. But a loophole has opened; it could expand.
Bush's Feb. 5 address on global warming before a UN panel was an opportunity to exert leadership. Instead the president weakly called for more research. That's needed. But pollution is a global problem with far-reaching consequences, and international cooperation is ctitical. The US should build that cooperation.
The Bush administration has a split personality concerning the environment. William Reilly at the EPA represents those who want the US to lead the world on environmental policy. Sununu represents those who want to hit the brakes. Much in Bush's background - his oilman years, his caution - would incline him toward Sununu. He should start being more attentive to Mr. Reilly, or the environmental presidency may wilt before it's sprouted.
