Chicago Public Radio’s news magazine 848 had a couple of pieces that I thought I should post about. First, they interviewed Lisa Madigan, Illinois Takes on US EPA
Last Friday, a federal appeals court struck down an EPA rule that effectively relaxed mercury emissions standards. Critics say President Bush’s EPA isn’t doing nearly enough to protect the environment.
And lately, environmental groups have been joined by more and more states in putting the squeeze on federal regulators. Illinois has been among the leaders.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has been leading the charge, and she joins us.
That also spoke with former EPA director Christine Todd Whitman, in this piece, the future of Nuclear,
President George W. Bush’s environmental policies began to take shape under his first EPA administrator, Christine Todd Whitman. She was a notably moderate voice in a largely conservative cabinet, and she tussled with the White House now and then before departing in 2003.
On the other hand, environmentalists say she dutifully followed Bush’s agenda in key areas – from climate change to Manhattan’s air quality after 911. Now, she’s at the forefront of a push to invest in nuclear power.
Whitman’s the co-chair of the nuclear-industry-funded Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. We caught up with her in Chicago yesterday, and asked her to address some lingering controversies about nuclear power’s safety, like the release of low-level radiation that can build up in the environment.