Environmental Activists Assailed by Head of EPA

EPA Administrator William K. Reilly criticized environmental activists Thursday, saying that they hurt their cause by being relentlessly critical of President Bush and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu.

As a result, Reilly said in an interview, environmentalists were excluded from a recent White House meeting with business and industry leaders to discuss the Clean Air Act.

“They haven’t learned to deal with a White House (that) clearly wants to engage them, take their ideas and move the environmental agenda forward,” Reilly said. “Maybe it’s expecting too much to expect that they will, but I think it’s going to hurt the (environmental) community.”

He particularly faulted environmentalists for focusing on Sununu, who has become a lightning rod for criticism on environmental issues.

Several leaders of environmental organizations expressed surprise at Reilly’s comments, which an EPA spokesman said were harsher than any he has made publicly before.

“What it does is signify that Bill is being co-opted, and co-opted in order to, I presume, be a more effective team player,” said Jay D. Hair, president of the National Wildlife Federation.

“I think he’s saying what he has to say to earn his way out of purgatory,” said Michael McCloskey, chairman of the Sierra Club, who noted that Reilly’s loyalty to the Administration had been questioned after he lost several internal fights.