BUSH STICKS JOHNSON IN THE EPA
President Bush announces nominee to head EPA

Today President Bush announced his new pick to lead the U.S. EPA:
Steve Johnson, who's been the agency's temporary head since Mike
Leavitt left six weeks ago to head the Department of Health and Human
Services.  If confirmed by the Senate, Johnson, a 24-year EPA
veteran, will be the first professional scientist to hold the
position.  The choice of Johnson, a low-key, wonky agency vet whose
work has focused on pesticides, may signal a new approach from the
White House; Bush's previous EPA administrators, Christie Whitman and
Mike Leavitt, were both significant players in the Republican Party
(and one of them still is!).  Johnson will preside over some tough
battles, including a contentious one now under way about how to
regulate mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.  Carl Pope,
executive director of the Sierra Club, was fairly beside himself with
enthusiasm, calling Johnson "the best we could expect as a nominee
from the Bush administration."

straight to the source:  Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Associated
Press, Deb Riechmann, 04 Mar 2005
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