New Jersey not exactly know for being an enviornmentally sound state. She got voted out partly because of her enviornmental record.
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Christie Todd Whitman may have had rocky times occasionally as Environmental Protection Agency chief, but she hit the campaign trail Thursday to sing the praises of the Bush administration.
Whitman, the former moderate Republican governor from New Jersey, was dispatched from the national Bush-Cheney campaign to tout the administration's record in a political swing state that has a large green vote. The state hasn't voted Republican since 1984.
She launched what the campaign calls the Washington Natural Resources Team, a group that will organize grassroots efforts in all nine congressional districts to spread the word about the Bush record.
The state Democratic Party and the John Kerry campaign quickly hit back, calling it a dismal record that caters to the energy industry.
Whitman, who is now writing a book about centrist, inclusive politics, said Kerry and many in the media disparage the Bush environmental record. The reality, she said, is that the administration is working hard to make water purer, air cleaner, and government regulations more streamlined and certain.
The administration is trying to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, including pollution from power plants, tractors, backhoes, school buses and other sources, she said. She also touted the president's work on "healthy forests," watershed management, and dealing with environmental-related health problems.
"This president is committed to the environment," she said. "We've just been getting the job done."
In a later interview, Whitman laughed when asked about reports that the White House had sometimes ignored her advice and failed to move aggressively enough. The truth is that she won some of her battles, lost some, and overall believes significant progress has been made, she said.
Whitman said the campaign has been urging her to do surrogate campaigning, and that she's been too busy with other projects before now. She said she may do more campaigning in states where she can help.
The state committee includes the EPA's first director, Bellevue's William Ruckelshaus, who has headed the state's salmon recovery board. Co-chairmen are Bob Jirsa of Plum Creek Timber and Gary Smith, a business leader who has worked for Metro and Northern Tier pipeline. Duane Vaagen, president of a sawmill in Colville, is Eastern Washington chairman.
Kerry and the state Democrats were critical.
"Under Bush and Co., we've seen just how an oilman views natural resources - there are those you mine and drill, and those you pollute, pave over or clearcut," said Kirstin Brost, spokeswoman for the state Democrats.
Kerry spokeswoman Laura Capps said the Bush campaign "only widens the Bush credibility gap. Despite their rhetoric, this administration has loosened critical health and safety standards in Washington, weakened rules and oversight for polluters and rolled back the environmental progress that many people in Washington state have fought hard for."
:thefinger
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Christie Todd Whitman may have had rocky times occasionally as Environmental Protection Agency chief, but she hit the campaign trail Thursday to sing the praises of the Bush administration.
Whitman, the former moderate Republican governor from New Jersey, was dispatched from the national Bush-Cheney campaign to tout the administration's record in a political swing state that has a large green vote. The state hasn't voted Republican since 1984.
She launched what the campaign calls the Washington Natural Resources Team, a group that will organize grassroots efforts in all nine congressional districts to spread the word about the Bush record.
The state Democratic Party and the John Kerry campaign quickly hit back, calling it a dismal record that caters to the energy industry.
Whitman, who is now writing a book about centrist, inclusive politics, said Kerry and many in the media disparage the Bush environmental record. The reality, she said, is that the administration is working hard to make water purer, air cleaner, and government regulations more streamlined and certain.
The administration is trying to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, including pollution from power plants, tractors, backhoes, school buses and other sources, she said. She also touted the president's work on "healthy forests," watershed management, and dealing with environmental-related health problems.
"This president is committed to the environment," she said. "We've just been getting the job done."
In a later interview, Whitman laughed when asked about reports that the White House had sometimes ignored her advice and failed to move aggressively enough. The truth is that she won some of her battles, lost some, and overall believes significant progress has been made, she said.
Whitman said the campaign has been urging her to do surrogate campaigning, and that she's been too busy with other projects before now. She said she may do more campaigning in states where she can help.
The state committee includes the EPA's first director, Bellevue's William Ruckelshaus, who has headed the state's salmon recovery board. Co-chairmen are Bob Jirsa of Plum Creek Timber and Gary Smith, a business leader who has worked for Metro and Northern Tier pipeline. Duane Vaagen, president of a sawmill in Colville, is Eastern Washington chairman.
Kerry and the state Democrats were critical.
"Under Bush and Co., we've seen just how an oilman views natural resources - there are those you mine and drill, and those you pollute, pave over or clearcut," said Kirstin Brost, spokeswoman for the state Democrats.
Kerry spokeswoman Laura Capps said the Bush campaign "only widens the Bush credibility gap. Despite their rhetoric, this administration has loosened critical health and safety standards in Washington, weakened rules and oversight for polluters and rolled back the environmental progress that many people in Washington state have fought hard for."
:thefinger
