Word: interior
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Other selections, however, present more difficulties. We worry that the "voluntary compliance" philosophy espoused by Interior Secretary appointee Gale A. Norton may weaken environmental protections; her confirmation hearings should clarify these views. The choice of former Michigan Sen. Spencer Abraham for Energy Secretary is also questionable, considering that Abraham introduced legislation in 1999 to abolish the department; we wonder whether his views on the importance of the Energy Department's work have changed over the past months. Furthermore, we question whether Houston superintendent Rod Paige has the experience to run a Cabinet-level department, and we are amused...
...Apparently Senate collegiality will get John Ashcroft safely through to the post of attorney general, and I would guess Gale Norton will make it as secretary of the interior, despite the taint of her having been a protégée of James Watt, the egregious lulu who served as Ronald Reagan's interior secretary; Watt did not worry much about the environment, since he believed that the biblical Armageddon was just around the corner and would presently moot all controversies over oil drilling, logging and other worldly trifles...
...With the next nominee, the pothole of controversy goes a bit deeper, and could cause some serious damage. Gale Norton, the interior secretary-designate, faces fierce opposition from environmental groups for her well-documented interest in opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration and her belief that protected lands should be open for "multiple uses" like logging or industry...
...Norton, Bush's controversial nominee for secretary of the interior, has a reputation that makes environmentalists and land conservationists very nervous. And while her confirmation to the post is far from certain, President Clinton is already sending her a not-so-subtle message: Keep your hands off public lands...
...Finally, at the center of a brewing storm: Norton and Ashcroft. During the Reagan administration, Norton worked under Interior Secretary James Watt, who almost single-handedly galvanized the environmental movement with his pro-business policies. Norton has engaged congressional Democrats before - when she tried unsuccessfully to convince them to open the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. To many environmentalists, Norton's tendency to consider corporate interests when making land-use decisions, considered alongside Bush's repeated insistence that current land protection policies are too broad, lead many environmentalists to fear Norton could represent the worst-case scenario for America...