EPA Chief, a.k.a. Acceleratti Incredibilis

By Al Kamen
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson is doing his best Road Runner impersonation as he is pursued relentlessly by the Senate Environment and Public Works chairman, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). Boxer has been after Johnson since March to come to the Hill to answer a few friendly questions about his policies on the Clean Air Act and global warming.

Each time the wily chairwoman thought she had Johnson in her grasp, his schedule was absolutely jammed, he couldn't make it, busy, busy, on the road, even wandering about in Australia.

This week, the committee was again holding hearings on matters environmental and wanted Johnson to appear. But the initial word the committee got from EPA was that Johnson was out of pocket, maybe touring Hurricane Ike damage. That could take a while.

So how about Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock?

Alas, Peacock was going to be at the annual meeting of the nonprofit Environmental Council of the States, a respected nonpartisan group of state environmental agency heads. The ECOS meeting was at the lovely Chateau on the Lake Resort Spa & Convention Center in Branson, Mo. In fact, Peacock was the scheduled keynote speaker Sunday at the organization's 15th anniversary lunch. No doubt other commitments made it impossible to get back on time.

The ECOS agenda included the usual long, numbing discussions of environmental issues such as the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission forum. But then there's the Monday evening dinner cruise aboard the paddle-wheeler Showboat Branson Belle. The brochure says "your heart will soar as you journey past lush Ozark mountains surrounded by the pristine beauty of Lake Table Rock," as "talented singers and dancers" offer "showstopping productions. . . . It's Broadway on the water.'"

The EPA offered the Senate committee a couple of low-level folks as sacrificial lambs, instead. But where in the world was the busy Johnson? The committee checked the Internet. And what do you know? Turns out he, too, was in Branson yesterday at the ECOS "Plated Breakfast." And then he was off for a meeting in Bentonville, Ark. He's then to be briefed on EPA efforts in the Gulf of Mexico region and maybe do a little touring before he's off to Philadelphia for what's surely a critical regional office meeting.

So how could he possibly make time to see angry senators? He's out there hustling so hard, we're told, he may have gotten in too late on Monday and missed the cruise.

At this point in the race, the smart money has to be on Road Runner Johnson to permanently escape capture. The Senate calendar is about done, as is Johnson's tenure at the EPA. Why, there's barely time to squeeze in that rumored EPA trip to Israel and Jordan next month.

Anticipation

With the presidential polls generally close -- though Sen. John McCain appears to have had a tough week or so -- Loop Fans are playing with those interactive electronic state electoral maps ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08), and wondering what happens if the electoral vote ends up in a tie and the decision goes to the House. The choice is then made by the 50 state delegations of the next Congress, each with one vote.

The odds favor Sen. Barack Obama in that event. In the current Congress, the Democrats are in the majority in 27 state delegations and the GOP in 21, with two are split evenly, according to the American Enterprise Institute's Norman Ornstein. And the Democratic numbers may improve a bit, because Democrats are expected to pick up some seats even if the presidential balloting is effectively a draw.

Those numbers contrast with the situation in the bitterly contested 2000 election -- the last time people talked about the possibility of the House deciding the outcome. The 2000 House lineup showed the GOP controlling 28 of the 50 state delegations, not to mention the House itself.

Still, there'll be plenty of uncertainty. "Not every representative has to vote by party," Ornstein said, and some may decide they should represent their district's result, or their state, or the popular vote. The pressure to heed the popular vote could be insurmountable for some.

Smile and Say 'Veep'

John McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate clearly reinvigorated his campaign and excited the country -- one way or another. Barack Obama's choice of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.? Well, maybe a little less so.

At the D terminal at Dulles Airport, in one of those airport stores, there are life-size cutouts of Obama and McCain so tourists can stand next to them and have their pictures taken to show folks back home who they ran into in D.C.

There's even a fine cutout of Palin. But Biden? Nowhere to be found.

Everyone Out of the Pool

Maybe Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), charged with hiding $250,000 in home renovations he allegedly received from an oil services company executive, caught a break as his trial opened this week.

Potential jurors in a criminal case are always questioned about their backgrounds, education, experiences with the criminal justice system, feelings about public officials and such, to ensure that they can be impartial.

But there's a different kind of question being asked in this case, our colleague Del Quentin Wilber reports, one that might make it difficult to find even one impartial juror: How, the judge and lawyers wanted to know, did each potential juror feel about home contractors?

They were interested in jurors' views about work performed by contractors and whether "it was a positive experience, a negative experience or a neutral experience."

Two jurors admitted problems with contractors. One said her contractor did such a shoddy job that someone nearly died. Neither has been struck so far by U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, but the lawyers haven't weighed in.

Still, finding someone in this town who's neutral about home contractors? Gonna be tough to put together a jury.

Hey, You

Folks on the Hill are showing a bit of exhaustion dealing with the pressure of putting together a massive bailout plan to deal with the Wall Street meltdown. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. were testifying yesterday at the Senate banking committee.

In the course of the hearing, the committee chairman, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), referred to Bernanke as "General" and "Senator."

Given the fix we're in, perhaps just "Ben" would do?

Research editor Alice Crites contributed to this column.