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New Chairman for Senate Environment Committee
Oklahoma Republican, James Inhofe is the new chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The change may signal a new direction for the committee, which has been dominated by eastern liberals for many years, most notably James Jeffords, (I-VT) who was awarded the plum as a reward for bolting the Republican Party to give Democrats the Senate majority. Sen. Inhofe is a conservative who has not hidden his disdain for the Environmental Protection Agency, labeling it a “Gestapo bureaucracy,” prompting criticism from environmentalists: “This is the first time since the passage of major environmental laws 30 years ago that someone with a truly anti-environmental record will be chairman of that committee,” said Julie Sibbing of the National Wildlife Federation. Observers predict that Republicans will not make the mistake of trying to ram through sweeping environmental law changes, a factor, some say that led to the downfall of supporters of the Contract with America, but will take a more subtle approach concerning regulations. Sen. Inhofe supported a moratorium on new listings to the ESA; voted against raising grazing fees; supported increased logging in national forests to ease fire danger and opposed major Everglades restoration legislation. Also in his favor, he consistently scores near the bottom of the League of Conservation Voters’ list of environmental friends.