A week before President Bush broke his campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman wrote a confidential memo urging him to stand by the promise or risk damaging the U.S.’s standing among international allies. Since Whitman lost the battle, both conservatives and environmentalists say that her stature has been reduced, at least temporarily — the perception now is that EPA policy is being set by the White House, not by Whitman. Some agency staffers say Whitman has lost so much credibility that they expect her to resign.
