The United States - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 36

and advocated less regulation, less protection, and more adherence to the
market. The new president got personal advice from friends like Joseph
Coors, the brewery owner, who opposed almost any government program.
A key appointment went to James Watt to be Secretary of the Interior.
Originally from Wyoming, Watt was a skilled attorney who headed the
Mountain States Legal Foundation, a group dedicated to promoting the
rights of business and the free market. He promptly proposed selling or
giving government land to the states and to private owners. He wanted to
decrease the power of his department when it conflicted with business and
to remove the burden of regulation. This meant not just the red tape, but
the substance. Surface mining regulations were rewritten to help the coal
industry. Career civil servants identified as too pro-environmental were
forced out. Reagan created a new Cabinet Council on Natural Resources
whose duties included supervising EPA. Yet Watt, who took pride in his
cowboy image and blunt talk, was forced to resign in less than two years
because of blunt talk.
Reagan's second key appointment was Anne Gorsuch to be administra-
tor of EPA. Gorsuch had served in the Colorado state legislature, where
she affiliated with a group of extreme conservatives known as the Crazies.
They advocated states' rights and opposed environmental protection.
Her goal at the EPA was to minimize its protection of the environment.
Reducing costs for industry was important. Gorsuch was not a skillful
manager, and she had trouble recruiting and retaining good employees.
She had a “hit list” of career employees to remove given to her by the
Chamber of Commerce. She also had a poor relationship with important
members of Congress. When Representative John Dingell, chairman of
the environmental committee, asked for her cooperation in considering
revisions to the Clean Air Act, which were expected in the spring of 1981,
she rebuffed him. Her quarrel with another representative led the House of
Representatives to vote that she was in contempt of Congress, and subject
to arrest. One of her top aides, Rita Lavelle, was found guilty of corruption
and sent to prison for her mismanagement of the Superfund. These prob-
lems led to Gorsuch's resignation after 2 years in office.
The resignations of Watt and Gorsuch marked a diminution of Reagan
Administration hostility toward the environment. Incompetent and abra-
sive appointees, including many at lesser levels, were replaced by those
who were better managers, and less likely to offend members of Congress.
At Interior, Reagan appointed Donald Hodel, a man with extensive experi-
ence in government, and the good judgment not to quarrel with Congress.