Anonymous Holds Put On Confirmations Of Two Obama Environmental Appointees

[babylonsister]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/21/anonymous-hold-put-on-con_n_159801.html

Anonymous Hold Put On Confirmation Of EPA Chief, Environmental Quality Chair

CQ Politics | January 21, 2009 04:05 PM


CQPolitics reports that not all of the confirmation hearings have gone smoothly for Obama appointees and that we can add two more to the list of confirmations with big enough problems to be delayed:

The confirmation of Obama's choices for EPA administrator, former New Jersey environmental chief Lisa P. Jackson, and White House Council on Environmental Quality chairwoman, Nancy H. Sutley, were delayed because a senator has put a hold on their nominations, a Democratic aide said. The identity of the senator holding up the nominations and the reason for blocking them could not be immediately determined.

Unlike many of the presidential appointments, Jackson's confirmation was never a foregone conclusion. Here are some of the headlines relating to her appointment:

::Jackson: Science Will Rule At New EPA
::Environmental Group Slams Obama's EPA Pick Jackson
::Sen. Boxer Had Tough Questions For EPA Pick Jackson
::EPA Pick's Record Raises Eyebrows
::Josh Nelson: Adults Put Back In Charge At DOE
::Josh Dorner: Lisa Jackson: Music To My Ears

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Why, exactly, can the people we elect to represent us do this?

Shouldn't they have to come out in the open with their objections?

"Of the people, by the people and for the people"? Doesn't look that way.

[pleah]

2. Anonymous? WTF?

Will we eventually find out that this particular senator is in bed with big polluters? :shrug:

These two must have put the fear in someone, eh?

[babylonsister]

3. I don't know, but would like to know more about this. nt

[pleah]

4. Oh, yes! Me, too!

I forgot to put the K&R on my first post. :)

[surrealAmerican]

5. Anonymous Holds?

I can hardly wait to hear who this coward is, and the reason for this.

[clear eye]

15. The Senator may be a Democrat

who is a strong environmentalist but doesn't want to get on the wrong side of Obama for something that he/she has not yet investigated fully. What happens w/i committees has never been automatically public record. I don't know why the board is assuming the objecting Senator is a Republican. Read the link "EPA Pick's Record Raises Eyebrows" before you jump to conclusions.

[Wiley50]

6. Inhofe. It has to be n/t

[babylonsister]

12. Sounds logical to me, too. nt

[nc4bo]

7. Anonymous? Really? How does this happen? Very strange. nt

[spanone]

8. the republicans are going to fight him tooth an nail; to their deaths so to speak

the democrats need to get ahead of this and let the people know they are obstructing....i wouldn't count on the media making the case

[clear eye]

9. Could you change those headlines to links?

So the rest of us get an idea of those problems.

[babylonsister]

13. There's a link in the original post. nt

[annabanana]

10. I'll bet it's Cornyn.. He seems to be the designated obstructionist..n/t

[Uzybone]

11. Both Holder and Jackson have had holds put on them

by the GOP. I wonder what they have in common?

Tone deaf republicans.

[clear eye]

14. HERE ARE THE LINKS FROM THE ARTICLE

Lisa Jackson: Science Will Rule At New EPA
Environmental Group Slams Obama's EPA Pick Jackson
Sen. Boxer Had Tough Questions For EPA Pick Jackson
EPA Pick's Record Raises Eyebrows
Josh Nelson: Adults Put Back In Charge At DOE
Josh Dorner: Lisa Jackson: Music To My Ears

Here is the link to PEER's PDF substantiating their objections:
Ten Questions Senate Should Ask Lisa Jackson

PEER describes itself thusly "As a service organization assisting federal & state public employees, PEER allows public servants to work as "anonymous activists" so that agencies must confront the message, rather than the messenger". In other words it protects environmental whistleblowers who have good reason to fear retaliation given the history of the last 20 years. No one has questioned PEER's honesty, and the charges are disturbing.

Taken together with the record of Obama's Energy Czar, Carol M. Browner, it raises questions about whether Pres. Obama is innoculating himself against environmental issue whistleblowing, as he has put two women in charge who have silenced and retaliated against whistleblowers before, rather than addressing the problems they raised. I truly wish I weren't reporting this, but coming up is the major issue of nuclear energy and whether the waste disposal issue has been solved enough to allow additional plants built w/o significant increases in cancer rates near the disposal sites (forever) and the plants themselves. A number of the existing plants are becoming old and regularly release more radiation than their neighbors would like (see the history of the Indian Point power plant, for example). I predict an eventual showdown on nuclear power w/ environmentalists and some public health NGOs on one side, and Obama's EPA and Energy Czar and the industry on the other. I imagine the President is aware of that potential as well.