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 nvironmentalists
have flogged President Bush lately for gutting some of former President
Clinton's green agenda. And
it's only going to get worse, as the Wall Street Journal
recently reported that some of the details of Bush's budget to be
released this week will include "big cuts in conservation and energy-efficiency
programs."
And Bush recently gave greens something else to shout about —
this time for joy. The White House announced it intends to nominate
Lynn Scarlett to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy,
Management, and Budget. At first glance, the Scarlett selection
might give greens pause. For over 20 years she has been affiliated
with the Reason foundation, the influential free-market think tank
in Los Angeles.
While sympathetic to the efficiency and elegance of free enterprise,
Scarlett is no mindless market acolyte.
This became clear to me a few years ago when I was producer for
the PBS public-affairs television series Think Tank and I
asked her to be a guest on a program we were taping on suburban
sprawl. Finding anyone who can adequately defend strip malls and
van pools, or who can artfully explain economic and regulatory tradeoffs
to the NIMBY crowd isn't easy, and I figured Scarlett — known
for original thinking, a keen intellect, and a pleasant manner —
was my best bet.
In the green room before the show, I went in to meet Scarlett face-to-face
for the first time. While we chatted she revealed that she had spent
the early part of the day in meetings at the Environmental Protection
Agency. I jumped: "Subverting the enemy from within?" I asked tongue-in-cheek,
certain that I had the woman whose organization's motto is "Free
Minds and Free Markets" pegged to a tee.
"Actually, it's not exactly like that over there," she responded
to my surprise. "There are lots of level-headed, clear thinking
people at the EPA, many of whom get a bad name because of a handful
of extremists who attract most of the attention. But there are definitely
folks there I can work with."
Fortunately for the Interior department — and for greens —
Bush has tapped someone who, as that remark reveals, shuns rigid
ideology and hasn't been jaded by the Beltway's attack politics.
Scarlett appreciates differing viewpoints, grounds her research
in solid science, and understands that it is possible to work within
political realities without sacrificing core principles.
While nothing short of setting fossil fuels on the road to extinction
and pursuing zero-growth policies can assuage the concerns of the
most hardened environmental ideologues, Bush's selection of Scarlett
means U.S. environmental policy will likely shun hysterics and will
be marked by intelligence, attention to detail, sophistication,
and — most importantly — a proper respect and appreciation
for economic growth and free markets.
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