Good; Now Let EPA Do Its Job

For a Cabinet office that has lost credibility and morale, where science has been overruled and veteran scientists have been downright dissed, President Bush did well by reaching into the ranks of those scientists and nominating Stephen L. Johnson to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Cynics predict, plausibly, that elevation of an EPA career man would doom the agency to the minor leagues in the president’s second term -- or worse, that Johnson would be expected to help roll back environmental protections. But that overlooks Johnson’s reputation as a biologist and pathologist for making independent and science-based decisions. If he gets the Christie Whitman treatment (the ugly big-footing of Bush’s first EPA chief), it will cement the White House’s reputation for choosing industrial profit at the expense of public health.

Johnson’s most recent high-profile action -- as deputy director, before his nomination -- was a strong start. Under his direction, the EPA harshly criticized a proposal by the Energy Department to cap radioactive waste piled near the Colorado River in Utah rather than move it away from the drinking source for 25 million people. Capping the waste would be cheaper, but the consequences could be catastrophic and irreversible in the event of flooding or a change in the river’s course. The White House needs to back its nominee by chucking the Energy Department’s proposal.

No one expects this administration to transform into an environmental hero. But perhaps Johnson, with his thoughtful approach and venerable 24-year history in the agency, would keep the EPA from the embarrassments that pushed normally reclusive scientists to public protest during the last four years. Recall, for instance, the White House making so many changes to an EPA report on climate change that Whitman left the section out of the published report, a glaring omission. Or the recent reports from federal oversight bodies that the agency violated scientific practices to draft a proposal that would make it easier for coal-burning plants to meet mercury emissions standards.

We could go on. But better to leave room for hope, especially since the administration’s perennially offered and ridiculously named Clear Skies plan died again this week in a Senate committee. Johnson should reject attempts to get the EPA to enact parts of it through regulation. Critics will also be watching when the EPA makes final proposals on mercury emissions next week.

Bush has proposed a good candidate for the EPA job. Johnson is in the almost unheard-of position of being respected by industry and environmentalists. The White House could claim some of that honor if it let Johnson do the job as it was meant to be done.