MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We want to talk more about this with Christine Todd Whitman. She was the administrator for the EPA during President George W. Bush's administration. She's also the former governor of New Jersey, and she's with us now. Good morning, Governor. Thanks so much for joining us.
CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN: Good morning. It's my pleasure to be with you.
MARTIN: So if the endangerment finding is rolled back, what does that mean for climate pollution that comes from the U.S., which as Jeff told us, is the world's second biggest climate polluter?
WHITMAN: What they're doing is endangering our future. They're endangering our future now and the future of our - my grandchildren. I have seven of them. I care about them. What they're doing is irresponsible, quite frankly. They've done away now with the Office of Research and Development, which is the office that's looking to see what new things that are coming on the market might be dangerous, might endanger our health and the health of the environment. That's all the agency is about.
Are there regulations that you can review and see whether, hey, we've already achieved this goal, we don't need this regulation anymore or we should change it a little bit? Absolutely. But you know we're bringing new products onto the market all the time. You know we're finding new things that - about which we should be concerned. And this is saying, we don't need to worry about that anymore. We're just going to go ahead. And if you think pollution that occurs in one state stays there, then you haven't been aware of the world around you for a long time. And this is really, really troubling. It's scary, it really is. It's endangering all our families.
MARTIN: Jeff Brady mentioned that this change is based on a legal argument rather than scientific findings about the impacts of pollution. Now, I know you're not a lawyer, but you have a long career in this area. Do you have an opinion about which argument is the stronger one in court, which is the venue where this is being fought?
WHITMAN: I think the strongest argument is the argument, the language in the enabling legislation that created - oh, by the way, under Richard Nixon - the Environmental Protection Agency. And that says the sole purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency is to secure and save, protect human health and the environment. That's the law. That's what Congress wanted to happen. That's what they put into the legislation creating the Environmental Protection Act when they enacted the Clean Air Act, the Clean Drinking Water Act. And the endangerment finding is part of the process, when you look through and say, no, in fact, this particular practice is endangering people, endangering the health of humans or the health of the environment, which in turn affects the health of humans.
MARTIN: You know, you just mentioned that the EPA was created under President Nixon. I think many people may forget that. You know, like you, a Republican. As we just heard, the current EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, calls climate change a religion. Do you think that that's a prevailing view in your party now, which has had, as you just pointed out, they've had a long history of support for these environmental initiatives?
WHITMAN: Well, I suspect the MAGA base, yes. They hear what's being said, and they'll accept it. But for Republicans who are troubled by what this administration's doing - and there are many Republicans there who are either abandoning the party and homeless at the moment. Or they are just troubled by it but kind of shrug and say, well, this part I don't like, but other parts I do like. It is not an argument. The legal argument is not the argument that - this religious-type argument is not the argument that sways them.
It's not a religion. It's definitely Republican. I mean, if you think about it, Abraham Lincoln set aside the first public lands. Teddy Roosevelt expanded our national park system vastly. And then you have Richard Nixon, and he signed the Clean Air Act, the clean drinking water act, the Safe Drinking Water Act. He established the Environmental Protection Agency. It is a Republican set of values that created this agency. It's not a religion, but it is a set of values protecting our country and protecting human health.
MARTIN: That is Christine Todd Whitman. She's the former governor of New Jersey and was the administrator for the EPA from 2001 to 2003. Governor Whitman, thanks so much for joining us.
WHITMAN: My pleasure.
MARTIN: And we should note that Christine Todd Whitman left the Republican Party in 2022 and founded the Forward Party.
(SOUNDBITE OF BLOCKHEAD'S "CARNIVORES UNITE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
