Beyond Pombo

Congressman Richard Pombo may have been sidelined by the voters on November 7 (and hooray for that!), but unfortunately not all of the public officials who are hostile to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) were up for re-election on Tuesday. Julie MacDonald, for one, is a highly-placed Bush appointee in the Department of the Interior and, like Pombo, a dogged opponent of the Act. She continues to wield considerable influence over the fate of species like the Gunnison sage grouse and the white-tailed prairie dog – species for which she has sought to deny ESA protections.

A Washington Post report which found that, on at least six occasions in the past three years, MacDonald has overridden and/or openly mocked the findings and recommendations of career staff and scientists within her department – often appearing to represent the interests of landowners or industry in the process. In a pattern that is familiar to anyone who has followed the Bush Administration’s ongoing battle with government scientists, (and science in general) MacDonald has derided her own staff’s findings as “speculative” or worse. As she told the Post’s Juliet Eilperin, “A lot of times when I first read a document I think, ‘This is a joke, this is just not right.’”

MacDonald, a civil engineer by training, has had some of her administrative decisions overturned in court. In one decision, a federal judge wrote that MacDonald neglected to show any “discernible rationale” for overruling the science at hand and called her instructions to Fish and Wildlife scientists “arbitrary.”

Of course, with Pombo as Chairman of the House Resources Committee, staff complaints regarding MacDonald’s behavior would have gone unheeded, but thanks to the midterm results, that is poised to change. The ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee – Nick Rahall of West Virginia – told the Post last month that he planned to investigate MacDonald and to hold oversight hearings should the election swing the Dems’ way.

It’s important to stress that Rahall’s plans would have remained just that were it not for the efforts of Sierra Club members -- not just in Pombo’s district, but across the entire country. Leading up to Tuesday's vote, thousands of devoted Sierra Club activists made phone calls and walked precincts to make this election turn out as it did. So, to cap what was a pretty momentous week, we just wanted to say to all of you out there: Thank you. You did an excellent job.