By many accounts the finalists for the new Secretary of the Interior are Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA). Environmental groups and conservation scientists, among others, have endorsed Grijalva. Hunting and fishing groups, along with speaker Pelosi, have endorsed Thompson.
Others have already documented some of the problems with Thompson, but I have taken a look at Rep. Thompson's early record and there are many more reasons for conservationists and environmentalists to be concerned. At critical points in his political career, he:
Scored as low as 55% on the California League of Conservation Voters annual scorecard (pdf).
Supported big agriculture over the health and safety of farmworkers.
Tried to gut California's Birth Defect Prevention Act.
Helped to kill a bill to ban hunting of bears with hounds in California.
Took steps to allow farmers to pollute the air more by burning rice stubble.
Supported Bush's "Healthy Forests" initiative, which allowed more logging and was opposed by environmentalists.
Details over the jump.
These first examples are from the California League of Conservation Voters annual scorecards rating California legislators. Descriptions below are largely quoted from these scorecards.
1991 -- Score 74%
Among other bills, voted to strip local air districts of the power to monitor real estate developments and other indirect (traffic-related) sources of air pollution.
Voted against SB 520 (Petris), which would have offered new and strengthened protection for farmworkers from toxic pesticides. The bill prohibited spraying of 27 well-known, extremely toxic pesticides, including parathion, unless alternatives are unavailable.
1992 -- Score: 85%
Voted to strip air quality districts of the authority to implement ride-sharing regulations for employers with less than 100 employees.
Voted against plan to link urban growth with mass transit systems and protecting, agricultural land and open space around cities in the San Francisco Bay region.
Voted to give unprecedented authority to the Secretary of Cal-EPA to approve or disapprove environmental permit applications when any state or local lead agency has failed to act on a permit application within a short period of time. The Secretary would have had complete discretion to act on a wide range of permits - from air and water quality permits to those issued by local health officers and fire departments.
1993 -- Score: 79% (50% in committee)
Voted to allow Department of Pesticide Regulation to waive public health data requirements for pesticides which could be hazardous to public health. Voted to exempt plastic food and cosmetic containers from plastic recycling requirements.
1994 -- Score: 88%
Voted for bill that was an indicator of support for opening a low-level radioactive waste dump in the California desert and for a bill to override local opposition to a freeway in Los Angeles that would damage five historic districts.
1995 -- Score: 55%
Took anti-environmental votes on almost half of analyzed bills, including:
MOUNTAIN LION HUNTING / RAID HABITAT FUND
The National Rifle Association sponsored SB 28 (LESLIE), which calls a March 1996 referendum to resume sport hunting of mountain lions. It would also allow the state to deplete a fund that puts $30 million a year into protection of wildlife habitat.
‘SUSTAINED YIELD’ LOGGING
AB 1937 (OLBERG) will let timber companies file ‘sustained yield ’logging plans that not only allow the companies themselves to determine how many trees they cut, but permit this virtually unrestricted logging to continue for up to 10 years.
RESTRICT MITIGATION & PUBLIC INPUT
SB 1283 (LESLIE) will make it harder for state foresters to mitigate harmful impacts of logging plans, by forcing them to cite statutory authority for requested mitigation measures. It will also have a chilling effect on public input by requiring state agencies to report any inquiries from citizens concerned about a logging plan.
PIT MINES
SB 273 (LESLIE) exempts shallow pit mines dug during roadbuilding – even those bigger than an acre – from all environmental provisions of the State Mining and Reclamation Act.
1996 -- Score: 70%
Voted to overturn state ban on the dangerous pesticide methyl bromide and voted to open huge loopholes in California Environmental Quality Act for the repair and replacement of oil pipelines, exempting pipeline projects up to 6 miles long from public review.
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In 1996, Thompson tried to prohibit California from having more stringent pesticide regulations than the federal government, gutting California's Birth Defect Prevention Act of 1984. From the Fresno Bee (May 23, 1996):
"In the mid-1980s, the state Legislature and Gov. George Deukmejian approved several bills tightening regulations on pesticide manufacturers and users. It was a continuation of a long-standing tradition in this state of not simply assuming that federal regulators know what's best for California -- in a number of areas, the state has wisely imposed safety regulations that go beyond those in federal law.
Sen. Ken Maddy, Republican of Fresno, and Sen. Mike Thompson, Democrat of Vallejo, acting out of legitimate concerns that regulatory reform is needed, have been carrying a bill that, until dramatically modified by a Senate committee Tuesday, appeared to threaten California's ability to set more stringent environmental and health standards for pesticides.
The bill, SB 1750, would have made it hard, if not impossible, for the state Department of Pesticide Regulation to ask any more of manufacturers in the way of health studies than the federal law requires.
In its original form, the bill would essentially have gutted the Birth Defect Prevention Act of 1984, which required manufacturers to submit a series of health effect studies (usually animal ingestion tests) to the DPR, which now has the authority to regulate use of pesticides accordingly, or to ban them if the studies are not submitted. The bill would similarly have gutted the Pesticide Contamination Prevention Act, which allows the DPR to require studies about soil and groundwater effects. That was going too far."
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In 1997, Thompson helped to kill a bill that would have ended the use of hounds to hunt bear in California, which aligned him with the Safari Club, one of his supporters for Secretary of the Interior. ( San Diego Union-Tribune, April 25, 1997).
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In 1998:
The California League of Conservation Voters endorsed Thompson, but criticized his 1996 vote to extend grape and strawberry growers' use of the toxic pesticide methyl bromide, his 1996 vote to exempt certain oil pipeline projects from environmental review and his 1995 vote to allow increased logging.
Since 1991, Thompson has accepted $24,350 in contributions from Central Valley rice growers. Last year, he authored a controversial bill allowing growers to increase the burning of rice stubble -- a major source of air pollution. (San Francisco Chronicle, May 24, 1998, Newcomer Takes on Veteran Democrat).
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in 2000, Thompson wanted to water down federal definition of organic so that wines made with sulfur dioxide (containing sulfites) would still be considered "organic." (Modesto Bee, May 10, 2000, Grape Growers Fight Rule)
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In 2003, Thompson voted for Bush's "Healthy Forests" plan, which allowed broad authority to log in national forests and removed the ability of the public to appeal. "It basically rigs the system in favor of the federal agencies," said Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M. (San Francisco Chronicle, May 21, 2003, House OKs Bush Plan for "Healthy Forests")
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In 2004, Thompson supported Napa County Measure P over Measure O in 2004, which meant endorsing the interests of grape growers over science-based setback requirements for streams. The Sierra Club supported O and was neutral on P. (San Francisco Chronicle, February 27, 2004, Napa Valley divided over competing land-use measures)
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