EDITORIAL Challenging administrations secrecy
Until last week, the Bush
administration, under cover of the ill-defined and open-ended war on terrorism,
was engaged in a reckless flirtation with secrecy and special interests,
shutting out the public from areas of government business that should be open
to scrutiny. But two federal court judges and a whistleblower in the
Environmental Protection Agency have begun to force the doors open again.
The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the
Congress, has received headlines for suing the administration to gain access to
records of Vice President Dick Cheneys secret meetings with energy
lobbyists to draw up the administrations energy plan. That suit is still
pending.
It is, however, only one of three suits aimed at gaining access to
the increasingly secretive Bush administration.
Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan, saying, I assume the
government is stalling, ordered the Justice Department to released
documents to Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that also gave the
Clinton administration fits over issues of access. The documents reportedly
will help to show what influence Enron executives and other oil interests had
over the administrations energy policy.
In another case, Judge Gladys Kessler described the administration
as woefully tardy in handing over documents to the Natural
Resources Defense Council that also would provide information about who
influenced the Bush energy plans.
It is notable that Kessler drew a connection between oil and the
terrorist attacks, saying, The subject of energy policy, especially since
the terrible events of Sept. 11, 2001, is of enormous concern.
In a third case, Judge Paul Friedman described the
governments action as gamesmanship and refused to dismiss yet
another Judicial Watch suit against Cheney.
As the administration was getting pressure from the courts to open
the books on its dealings with special interest groups, a longtime official at
the Environmental Protection Agency took the unusual step of resigning,
claiming the agencys work was being compromised by White House meetings
with power companies intent on undermining enforcement of clean air
standards.
As we were going to press, hearings were about to get underway to
look into claims made by Eric Schaeffer, director of the office of regulatory
enforcement, in a resignation letter to his boss, EPA Administrator Christine
Whitman.
Schaeffer expressed his frustration over a White
House that seems determined to weaken the rules we are trying to
enforce.
According to the letter from Schaeffer, who has 12 years of
experience with the agency, the EPA has filed lawsuits against nine power
companies for expanding their plants without obtaining New Source Review
permits and the up-to-date pollution controls required by law. The companies
named in our lawsuits emit an incredible 5.0 million tons of sulfur dioxide
every year (a quarter of the emissions in the entire country) as well as 2
million tons of nitrogen oxide.
That amount of pollution has significant implications for public
health. The agency estimates that 7 million tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxide are responsible for more than 10,800 premature deaths; at least
5,400 incidents of chronic bronchitis; more than 5,100 hospital emergency
visits; and over 1.5 million lost work days. Add to that severe damage to our
natural resources, as acid rain attacks soils and plants and deposits nitrogen
in the Chesapeake Bay and other critical bodies of water, Schaeffer
wrote.
The EPA, through legal action, was on the verge of gaining
significant concessions from the companies involved when the Bush
administration imposed a 90-day period for review of the law. That has turned
into a nine-month period, with no end in sight. At the same time, the
administration is drafting alternative proposals -- which have been leaked to
the energy industry -- that would weaken the Clean Air Act. In effect, the
administration is undermining the EPAs efforts. Energy companies are
stalling. Two companies, Cinergy and Vepco, have refused to sign the
consent decrees they agreed to 15 months ago, hedging their bets while waiting
for the administrations Clean Air Act reform proposals, wrote
Schaeffer. Other companies, he said, have stopped negotiating.
Perhaps the Senate hearings prompted by Schaeffers letter
will shed some light and bring much needed attention on the
administrations sad environmental record.
The wider problem, of which the EPA-White House dispute is only a
part, is the Bush administrations fondness for secrecy and its coziness
with industry to the exclusion of other interests, often to the detriment of
the public good.
In addition to Cheneys secret meetings, the cumulative
record raises reason for concern:
- The president has changed the Presidential Records Act so that
a sitting president can now keep secret the papers of a previous
administration.
- Attorney General John Ashcroft released a memo telling agencies
that if they decided to withhold records sought under the Freedom of
Information Act, they could be assured that the Department of Justice
will defend your decisions.
- The Justice Department refused to reveal the names of hundreds
of Middle East immigrants swept up after the Sept. 11 attacks.
- Scientific documents previously available to the public are
being withdrawn for national security reasons.
- Bush initiated a shadow government made up of senior civil
servants. They were sequestered at an unknown location following the Sept. 11
attacks. The president never informed anyone on Capitol Hill. Legislators
learned of the shadow government from newspaper reports.
Politicians are elected to conduct the peoples business, not
for their own purposes or to smooth the way for big business. Those elected to
advance the common good should be pushing the limits of openness, not taking
every opportunity to close off access and hide information.
National Catholic Reporter, March 15,
2002
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