Gore Crony Bashes Bush Plan

A) The Bush administration is proposing new standards for regulating mercury emissions from power plants.

B) The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty said the new rules would be an "economic blow and a public health disaster."

C) Kathleen McGinty was Vice-President Al Gore's environmental advisor.

D) Kathleen McGinty oversaw development of the law that Bush wants revised.

Based upon the above, it appears that Kathleen McGinty should refrain from commenting. It's obviously a personal and partisan political issue to her and her comments reflect hubris and dedication to special environmentalism. The citizens of Pennsylvania are not being well served by Kathleen McGinty on the mercury issue, or any controversial environmental issue.

This may seem to be a harsh assessment, but not when one considers McGinty's resume and history. McGinty should be well known as Al Gore's top environmental advisor and confidante, helping him shape his book, Earth In The Balance, and being only one of two staffers that could call Gore "Al" when he was VP. In 1993, Gore created the White House Office of Environmental Policy and put McGinty in charge. And, she was also assigned to represent the US at the UN in the development of the Kyoto Treaty, which was unanimously rejected by the US Senate when presented for ratification. Anecdotally, the following quote encapsulates McGinty's thinking quite well.

"There would be no higher priority I would have," McGinty said, "than to help or serve Al Gore."

In summary, if a McGinty blood test result came back green in color, no one should be surprised. Nor should there be surprise if McGinty is against any initiative that doesn't directly support environmental extremism or Al Gore. Anything she says should be placed in this context. Also, the citizens of Pennsylvania should take action to put her in a job where her extremist personal views are irrelevant. Completely out of public service would be my recommendation.

[Update] One other thing worth mentioning is that the media should be reporting the context in which McGinty's statements should be viewed, not some guy like me on the Internet.