For Immediate Release:
March 10, 2006
Contact:
Erich Pica, 202-222-0739
Carl Schneebeck, 415-544-0790 x19
Dick Bell, 202-222-0742
Friends of the Earth Hails Norton Resignation
Statement of Brent Blackwelder
Friends of the Earth hails the resignation of Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior. Under Norton’s regime, the deterioration of our national parks has accelerated, and our country’s natural wonders are more endangered than ever.
Norton’s formal mantra in running the department was what she called the “Four C’s—consultation, cooperation, communication—all in the service of conservation.” There were Four C’s, but under Norton they were “corruption, cronyism, commercialization—all in the service of corporations.”
- Norton served as an architect of the Bush administration's drill-it-all energy policy, feeding our oil addiction and putting our national treasures at risk.
- Norton granted unprecedented access to oil and gas and mining lobbyists who weakened one environmental law after another.
- Norton stacked her staff with industry hacks like J. Steven Griles and William Myers, who had spent their careers gutting environmental regulations.
- Norton allowed her staff to make a mockery of our ethics laws.
- Norton worked with industry to change the National Park Service’s management policies to favor the commercialization of our national parks.
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