Big Think

Question: Did the Bush Administration accomplish anything for the environment?

Christine Todd Whitman: Well, we start with the last piece of important legislation that was passed relative to the environment, which was the Brownfields Revitalization Act in 2001, 2002. I guess it actually got through.

Unfortunately, Congress has not been able to come to agreement on any other major piece of environmental legislation. And not that we’ve needed to stop protecting our environment but they just can’t get the political consensus that we’ve had.

And then you look at the non-road diesel rule which is reducing the emissions from non-road diesel engines, tractors, and backhoes by 95%. And those are a bigger threat to human health and the environment than diesel buses and trucks on the roads.

You look at the water shed approach to managing water pollution because non point source pollution from actions that all of us do on our everyday lives are more important, more difficult now to deal with than the point source pollution.

There are a host of things that have been done and been done well and, of course, preserving one of the largest areas of the water of Hawaii is a major accomplishment, setting that aside. And all environmental groups would admit that that’s a very good, a very strong statement and a very good position to have taken.

Recorded on: September 15, 2008