Speculation is running rampant about whom George W. Bush or Al Gore might choose to fill Cabinet-level positions, and what the environmental ramifications would be. For the Interior secretary spot, it’s thought that Bush might go for Montana Gov. Marc Racicot (R) or Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), if Gorton loses his bid for reelection; Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has also said he’d like the position if Democrats win the majority in the House. Gore could choose an Interior head from Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer (D), former Colorado Sen. Tim Wirth (D), or George Frampton, former head of the Wilderness Society and acting head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). For Energy secretary, Bush might pick Tom Kuhn, head of the Edison Electric Institute, a lobbying arm of the utility industry, or Kenneth Lay, chair of Enron, a major oil and energy company, while Gore could go for Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.). To lead the EPA, Bush might pick David Struhs, head of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Chris DeMuth of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, or Russell Harding, head of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality. The front-runner for EPA administrator under a Gore administration is Katie McGinty, former head of the CEQ.
