Madam Enforcer
I think so. I don't want to speak for every Democrat, but I want to say that's my strong impression.
What's it going to take to get the 60 votes necessary to override a filibuster?
I think senators have to come to grips with the issue. And I think it's happening. This isn't something that happens overnight. This is an inconvenient truth. Al Gore is right. We're sending around articles. We're featuring scientists in private briefings with colleagues. My staff has briefed other staffs. This is one of the greatest challenges of our generation. It's going to take a realization on the part of a majority of senators, and maybe a supermajority, to understand that we have to take strong action, or we're going to fail our grandchildren.
You're promising tough oversight of the EPA, which you've accused of a number of environmental rollbacks. What do you feel is EPA's No. 1 problem?
You've got to go to the top. This president has the worst record of any president in terms of utilizing the EPA as a watchdog agency and a proponent for making our environment as healthy as it can be. As someone who cares deeply about public health, I can tell you it's been a disaster.
Shouldn't environmentalists be pleased that the White House has promoted a career scientist, Stephen Johnson, to the agency's top post?
My own view is if you're serious about the environment, you do two things. You make it a cabinet-level post, and you pick someone who has a real profile in environmental issues. When I called him to task on the environmental rollbacks, he gave a speech on how wonderful everything is. He doesn't get it, or he doesn't want to get it.
But isn't it true that air quality standards are tougher than ever before?
The problem is there is more pollution. The standards are higher, but how high does it have to be to protect the people? In my state, 9,000 people a year are dying of air-related illness.
Do you expect a battle with the White House over the EPA and its budget?
This latest budget request from the president is so underfunded that even my Republican colleagues, to my happy surprise, have said they cannot stand by and watch this.
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