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Give Industrial Polluters a break! 7 Comments More | Login | Reply /

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  • That the deputy administrator of the EPA is Linda Fisher....an executive at...*drumroll please*...Monsanto.

    • Please tell me you are kidding! Am I stoned or is this a clear case of conflict of interest?! And Monsanto is the company on trial in Alabama ( my home state :-) ) for contaminating a whole town w/ PCB's. Hmmm.... how do people get away w/ these type of things?
      --
      "Perl users are the Greatful Dead fans of computer science." --slashdot comment
      • Well, she WAS an executive at Monsanto. She no longer is, of course. That would be a clear case of conflict of interest, yes. But it isn't any conflict of interest.
        • But still it seems like a potential conflict. Just because she is no longer on Monsanto's payroll doesn't mean she could not be influenced. Surely she must still have friends in high places there...

          I guess what I'm getting at is that we should take a long look at where people come from before they get into important offices like this one. No, she doesn't work for them anymore. But is it likely she will be "friendly" to them? Probably. Could she also make impartial decisions? Probably. But how do we know? I would rather have someone I wonder less about is said office. There will never be a perfect candidate, but there are better & worse ones. (I am passing no judgement on this woman because I don't know enough.)

          I know that if we put people into public offices that have never worked in the real world, their decisions & policies will be influenced by their lack of experience. You HAVE to have experienced folks leading the country. All I'm saying is that we should be careful. Monsanto IS, after all, one of the larger chemical companies in the world...

          --
          "Perl users are the Greatful Dead fans of computer science." --slashdot comment
          • Yes, she could be influenced. So could anyone. Clinton's Chief of Staff -- perhaps the most powerful man in Washington, aside from the President himself, because he runs the White House -- Mack McLarty left the White House to take a job at Enron. This was shortly after Clinton and Ken Lay had gotten together to discuss a few things about energy policy. Was there a conflict of interest there? I dunno. Maybe. Maybe not.

            The point here is twofold; first, the obvious, that this kind of thing happens all

            • You want a real conflict of interest? The HEAD of the EPA used to be governor of NEW
                    JERSEY! :-)

              I very nearly was going to take a crack at that, but I figured: too easy. New Jersey gets a bad rap for Newark (which is a frightening example of urban ruin and decay). Trenton and the coast are very pleasant indeed.

              • I worked next door to Trenton for awhile (in Princeton), and while Princeton is pleasant, I really can't say the same for Trenton. Maybe "tolerable" is better. Actually, I think the nicest parts of New Jersey are inland, the northwest portions, where there's a ton of forest. The worst parts are all adjacent to the turnpike. Too bad that's half the state.
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