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December 19, 2002

George W. Bush
President of the United States
1601 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW Washington, DC 20007

Dear Mr. President:

The undersigned groups are writing to urge you against considering Michigan Governor John Engler as the next Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. We are responding to recent news reports that changes in the leadership of your Administration could include a new EPA Administrator, and that Governor Engler has been mentioned as a potential candidate.

Your administration has experienced difficulty in creating widespread support for many of your environmental policies and programs during these past two years. We believe you would be better served by a candidate with strong credentials in conservation and environmental protection. Based on years of poor performance and a disappointing track record, we believe that Governor Engler is unfit for duty in the EPA and must not be considered for any position entrusted with the protection of our nation's environment or the health of our citizens.

Governor Engler has demonstrated a consistent contempt for the environmental laws enacted in Michigan and the United States since the 1960s. Worse, he has demonstrated complete disregard for the views of citizens on how our air, water, land, fish, wildlife and human health should be protected. Under his tenure, decision-making on Michigan's environmental rules, standards, permits and policies has been a joint back-room project of a handful of state agency managers and corporate executives and lawyers. Governor Engler has systematically dismantled the forums, boards and commissions and avenues of public discourse which for over 70 years permitted a vibrant, open discussion on environmental and natural resources policy in this state.

In the final days of his Administration, Governor Engler has instructed the director and deputy director of the state environmental agency unlawfully to relax scientifically based state standards on highly toxic dioxin contamination to provide a windfall to Dow Chemical Corporation that is likely responsible for these contaminations. The contamination affects the largest watershed feeding the nationally significant Great Lakes.

Also, in 1996 and 1997, Governor Engler defied the U. S. EPA and refused to adopt a public health advisory warning women of childbearing age about the health risks of consuming fish from the Great Lakes. Studies of these aquatic animals showed high levels of PCBs and other contaminants, which are linked to reproductive and developmental defects. For most of his Administration, Governor Engler and his environmental agency director refused to enforce Clean Water Act requirements applying to the discharge of pollutants from animal factories into our lakes and streams. His unsuccessful appeals of the EPA's heath-based Clean Air Act standards on ozone and particulate pollution also illustrate his disdain for common-sense protections.

In short, appointing Governor Engler to manage the EPA would undermine the ability of your Administration to fulfill the mandates of laws and the strong directive of national public opinion for a clean environment. The nation deserves better.

Sincerely,

Lana Pollack, President
Michigan Environmental Council

Kim Winchell, Director
Michigan Interfaith Coalition for Creation

Elliot Levinsohn
Manager, Air Quality & Environmental Health

American Lung Association of Michigan

Donald L. Inman, President
Michigan Resource Stewards

Cyndi Roper, Michigan Director
Clean Water Action

Tom Leonard, Executive Director
West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jessica T. Kovan
Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council

Ken Smith
The Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council

Mike Garfield, Director
Ecology Center

Terry Miller, Chair
Lone Tree Council

Larry Rochon, Vice President
Friends of the Cedar River Watershed Inc.

Julie Griess
Michigan Citizens Against Toxic Substances (MCATS)

Mike Sklar, Board Chair
Michigan Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life

John Witucki
Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination (CACC)

Peter Hanson
Northwoods Services

Sue Julian
Michigan Drain Code Coalition

Jeannine Ansley, Executive Director
Friends of the Detroit River
Detroit Riverkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance

James G Meenahan, P.E., President
Environmental and Energy Consultants

Terry Swier, President
Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation

John Taylor, Chair
Tittabawassee River Watch

Rob Cedar, Director
HEAT- Hamtramxk Environmental Action Team
and Councilperson, City of Hamtramck, MI

Joyce Petrakovitz, Director
Cadillac Area Citizens for Clean Air

Darryl Braun, Policy Director
Citizens United for Action (CUFA)

Barbara Gilmore Weber, President
Friends of the Crystal River--

Dennis Fijalkowski, Director
Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation

Contact:
Dave Dempsey, Michigan Environmental Council 517-487-9539
Mike Garfield, Ecology Center 734-761-3186 x 104