New Governor, Same Environment
By Lily Auliff

Former governor George W. Bush’s environmental record was the talk of the town last fall, but little has been said about our new governor’s stance on the issues that concern the environmental community.

“I think that in general, Governor Perry’s philosophy is pretty close to Bush’s philosophy,” says Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Chapter if the Sierra Club. “He tends to take a fairly hands-off attitude toward business and industry with regard to government regulation for the environment or other purposes.”

Perry’s record on environmental issues is somewhat limited. From 1985 to 1991, he served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives. “In that particular period, we didn’t have too many record votes on the floor of the House, so it is a little hard to say what his complete environmental record as a state legislator might have been,” explains Kramer. “Primarily what we have to go on are things that he did, or did not do, as Agriculture Commissioner.”

Perry served eight years as Texas Agriculture Commissioner prior to becoming lieutenant governor in 1998. During that period, he aligned himself closely with the Wise Use movement, according to Kramer. This tends to promote property rights over environmental protection. “Because of his association with groups that have been aligned with the Wise Use movement, you would expect that he is not going to be very supportive of efforts to set aside land for public purposes, for environmental protection or recreation, things of that nature,” says Kramer.

Some also note that Perry supported pesticide use during his tenure. “He took over from former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower and essentially gutted many of the farm worker and pesticide policies that had been implemented,” remembers Tom Smith, director of Public Citizen.

“He argued hard for EPA to approve certain pesticides and weakened laws that protected farm workers from unnecessary exposure,” adds Jim Marston, director of the Texas office of Environmental Defense. Marston also notes that Perry supported large corporate farms.

“As lieutenant governor, he had no environmental initiatives of his own of note,” says Marston. “It just wasn’t on his radar screen.”

Perry has remarked about the importance of cleaning up Houston’s air, although his position is unclear on the current state implementation plan (SIP) to reduce ground level ozone in the region.

“My general sense is that he will find he has to take action on air quality issues in order to be successful,” says Smith.

Kramer predicts that Governor Perry will continue to support the so-called voluntary approaches that former governor Bush took during his administration.

Many also think Perry will turn to technology to try to solve our pressing air quality problems. During his remarks at his swearing in ceremony, the new governor said, “Technology provides great promise in the effort to clean our air and water.”

“He has proposed a research arm to do something about air quality, but we’re still not sure what that means,” explains Marston.

Some environmentalists are concerned about Perry’s focus on highway development, with its resultant urban sprawl. “He does seem to be wedded to continuing the focus on highways as our main source of public spending for transportation. I think that is unfortunate because as our population becomes more and more urbanized, there’s a much greater need for mass transit,” says Kramer.

During the swearing in ceremony, Perry announced that he would like to develop a new highway bonding program that would provide a more permanent funding source for highway development. He also said highway development would improve traffic congestion, contrary to several recent studies on the issue. “Governor Perry appears not to know that expanding and building highways, particularly near urban areas, is now seen as one of the major causes of congestion, and that the idea of building your way out of congestion doesn’t have many supporters elsewhere in the country,” says David Crossley, whose Gulf Coast Institute focuses on urban growth and transportation issues.

Perry did, however, mention the need for public transportation in that same speech. “We should not limit ourselves to building more roads to get traffic moving,” he stated. “High-speed rail makes sense along existing rail lines linking some of our urban centers.”

Many are hopeful that Perry’s environmental record may improve. “With the exception of the last two years as lieutenant governor, he has represented a small conservative rural area in the legislature, and then as ag commissioner was seen as a champion of agricultural interests. In his role as governor, you might see him broaden his perspective and his scope a little bit,” says Kramer.

“His outlook may change because I think he wants to be re-elected,” adds Smith.

“I think the environmental community and others proved pretty strongly that not being good on environmental matters was not helpful to Governor Bush’s run for the presidency,” Kramer continues. “And I think that public opinion polls in both Texas and nationally show that there is still strong public support for environmental protection. Those factors combined might make Governor Perry look a little more closely about at how he could improve his environmental standing.”

Many are taking a wait and see attitude with Perry. “I would say that I didn’t perceive during his short period as lieutenant governor that he was actively working against environmental protection issues,” explains Kramer. “I think that is a hopeful sign that maybe his perspective is broadening somewhat. Maybe as governor he’ll continue down that road.”