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BUSHS' CORPORATE SPONSORS AND ADVISORS He may be the son of the man who called himself "the environmental president," but George W. Bush's rise to the White House is stirring trepidation that some ecological activists haven't felt since Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980.
Bush, after all, campaigned on a promise to drill for oil in the Alaskan wilderness. His term and a half as Texas governor saw Houston become the nation's smoggiest city.
His environmental advisers include a Montana think tank director who advocates auctioning off all the national parks.
And when it comes to protecting endangered species, Bush favors leaving a lot of the decisions to landowners, not the government. As he said during the campaign, "If you own your own land, every day is Earth Day."
But now, the environmentalists who overwhelmingly opposed his candidacy now hope President-elect Bush will surprise them.
"A lot of environmentalists are immediately coming out with a negative, saying Bush will be a nightmare," said Mark Helm, a spokesman for the Friends of the Earth Political Action Committee -- which, just three months ago, denounced Bush as "a clear and present danger to our nation's environment."
But as president, "he has a rare opportunity," Helm said.
"He can either be Teddy Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan on the environment," said Debbie Sease, national legislative director for the Sierra Club.
The chances may be greatest in Florida, where his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, lobbied hard to get Congress to approve a $7.8 billion state-federal plan for restoring the Everglades, which President Clinton signed Dec. 11. Jeb Bush's administration also opposes oil and gas drilling off the Florida coast -- and has accused "Ozone Man" himself, Vice President Al Gore, of being wishy-washy on the issue.
"None of us is worried that George Bush is going to pave over the Everglades," said Shannon Estenoz, co-chairwoman of the Everglades Coalition.
Estenoz, whose group was officially neutral in the campaign, said she's willing to wait for Bush's actions before judging them.
Still, environmental groups so far are giving mixed reviews to Bush's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.
And they're nervously waiting to see whom he picks as interior secretary, a post with huge influence over logging, mining, endangered species and the Everglades.
The new administration will face a host of choices, large and small, that could affect Florida's environment in ways yet to be imagined. Among them:
Will the EPA aggressively enforce anti-pollution rules affecting the Everglades and Florida's ground water, even at the risk of making the restoration more expensive?
Will the Interior Department continue its long battles with the Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida water managers about protecting Everglades National Park and the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow?
Will the White House approve a proposed international airport next to the Everglades in Homestead -- a project bitterly opposed by South Florida environmentalists, some of whom have also denounced Gore for failing to take a stand?
Will the White House embrace the idea of turning some decisions about South Florida's water supply to the private market, as proposed by one of the new president's biggest corporate supporters?
Expect one thing for sure: More open conflict about the environment.
Bush has promised to support the Everglades restoration and maintain the Florida drilling moratorium. But then there's his environmental record in Texas, a state with relatively little publicly owned conservation land, some of the nation's worst industrial air pollution, and a history of political dominance by oil and gas interests.
At best, Texas environmental groups complain, Bush did nothing to reverse those problems.
At worst, they say, he stocked his environmental positions with industry shills -- a former executive for the chemical company Monsanto heads Texas' main environmental agency -- and has allowed companies to decide voluntarily whether to stop polluting.
Bush's environmental advisers include free-market advocates such as Terry Anderson, director of the Political Economy Research Center in Bozeman, Mont., who has proposed selling off all national parks and other federal land at auction during the next 20 to 40 years.
In Florida, at least, environmentalists may have one key piece of leverage: Jeb.
"He (George W. Bush) has got a brother who's the governor of Florida, and if he wants to stay the governor of Florida, he's got to do the right thing by the Everglades," said Mary Barley, a Republican who leads the group Save Our Everglades.
Barley said she's willing to give the new president a chance. But in light of his record, she's skeptical.
"He's really going to have to climb up the mountain to get on board with where the people of the United States are," she said. "They care about their parks."
BUSH LEGACY - NOMINATIONS
VENEMAN NOMINATED FOR AG. SECRETARY
In a move disappointing to family farmers, consumers and environmentalists president-elect Bush has nominated Ann Veneman for Secretary of Agriculture. Veneman, former Deputy of Agriculture for Bush's father, has championed expanding free trade, increased export markets and biotechnology during her agriculture career. She is heavily praised in recent press by the California Farm Bureau Federation and former Monsanto lobbyist Carol Tucker Foreman.
Regarding the appointment, Bill Christison, President of the National Family Farm Coalition said, "We had hoped to get a secretary with practical experience in family farm agriculture. We feel the next secretary should understand that expanding free trade and export markets while increasing biotechnology are not the answers farmers need."
By Cat Lazaroff and Brian Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC, December 22, 2000 (ENS) - President Elect George W. Bush has named New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman as his nominee for administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Whitman's nomination drew cautious optimism from some environmental groups, and harsh criticism from others.
CHENEY SPENDS HOLIDAY IN JACKSON HOLE
JACKSON – Vice President-elect Dick Cheney spent Christmas vacation in
Jackson Hole, where he owns a home, before returning to Washington, D.C., to
continue work on the transition to a Bush administration.
Spokeswoman Juleanna Glover Weiss said Cheney is expected to return to
Jackson for New Year’s weekend.
The Cheney motorcade was seen traveling through Jackson Hole on Saturday and
the family had Christmas dinner with friends at the Triangle X Ranch in
Grand Teton National Park.
The excursion included a ride on a horse-drawn sleigh, friends said.
Cheney’s Christmas visit was private and a press pool did not travel with
him, Weiss said.
-------> Interesting note: the "Triangle X Ranch" is at the center of the salt-baiting controversy. Per previous newspaper articles is a known proponent of and right in the middle of the salt-baiting issue. Well-entrenched, powerful, and politically well-fixed (they've been described as "Cowboy Royalty"), two Turner brothers - Don and Harold - run the business of the Triangle X Ranch. Brother, John, is the former Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (i.e., 1990's).
 
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