Council on Environmental Quality
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the White House that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives.
Congress established the CEQ within the Executive Office of the President as part of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Additional responsibilities were provided by the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970.
The Council's current chairman, James L. Connaughton, was appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The first chair was Kathleen A. McGinty, who had been an advisor to Senator and later Vice-President Al Gore and is currently the Secretary of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania. Former chairmen include James Speth.
The CEQ reports annually to the President on the state of the environment; oversees federal agency implementation of the environmental impact assessment process; and acts as a referee when agencies disagree over the adequacy of such assessments.
[edit] Staff links to industry
There has been concern over links between staff members and industry. The organisation was described as "a hard-line group of advisers with close links to the US oil industry".[1]
CEQ chairman James L. Connaughton was formerly a partner at law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood[2], where he lobbyed to reduce government regulation on behalf of clients including the Aluminum Company of America and the Chemical Manufacturers Association of America.[3][4]
Former CEQ chief of staff Philip Cooney, was previously a lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute.[5] Mr Cooney was forced to resign after it emerged he had repeatedly edited government climate reports in order to play down links between emissions and global warming.[6] Following his resignation in June 2005, Mr Cooney went to work for ExxonMobil.[7]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "Links to oil industry," BBC
- ^ "Connaughton Whitehouse bio," whitehouse.gov
- ^ "Connaughton EarthJustice profile," earthjustice.org
- ^ "Earth Shakers: The Counter-Enviro Power List," Outside Magazine
- ^ "Lobbyist for API," New York Times
- ^ "Cooney resignation," New York Times
- ^ "Cooney move to ExxonMobil," The Guardian
