Bush Withdraws Two EPA Nominees

President George W. Bush last week withdrew from consideration two nominees for top posts at EPA. Bush had tapped William Wehrum Jr. to head the agency's air pollution programs and Alex A. Beehler to be EPA's inspector general. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Environment & Public Works Committee, praised the move. Boxer says Wehrum, a former industry lawyer who has been a top official in EPA's Office of Air & Radiation since the early days of the Bush Administration, "has worked to serve polluters instead of protecting our families." Boxer says of Beehler, "EPA deserves an inspector general with experience rooting out waste, fraud, and mismanagement." Beehler became the Pentagon's number two environmental official in 2004, coming to the Defense Department from Koch Industries, where he served as director of environmental and regulatory affairs. Last year, the Republican-controlled Senate moved to confirm Wehrum and Beehler, but Democrats used procedural tactics to block votes on the two men.