Giving and Taking Away

George Bush’s selection of William K. Reilly of the Conservation Foundation to be the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is excellent. His choice of retiring Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr. of New Mexico as the secretary of the interior stirs less enthusiasm.

During the campaign, Bush vigorously proclaimed his commitment to the American environment. In choosing Reilly, he upheld that pledge. In picking Lujan, Bush seemed to revert to the old Western-roots tradition of interior secretaries who were more interested in private development and exploitation of the public estate than in protecting it. What Bush gives with one hand, he seems to take away with the other.

Since 1973 Reilly has built the Conservation Foundation into one of the most effective and respected environmental organizations in the country. The foundation has done pioneering research work in water development, wetlands preservation, ground-water contamination, national-park protection and global warming. In 1985 he engineered a merger with the American affiliate of the World Wildlife Fund, which he also heads.

Reilly promised a new and constructive course for the EPA, which administers laws dealing with air and water quality, toxics and pesticide regulation and the Superfund program of toxic-waste cleanup. That promise is a bright one if he receives the proper support from Bush and a lack of meddling from others in his Administration.

The appointment of Lujan is curious, since he had said not long ago that he did not want it. Lujan, a 20-year House member from Albuquerque, did not seek reelection in 1988 after undergoing a triple-bypass heart operation in 1986, although he said that his health was not a reason for wanting to return to New Mexico. Lujan was a veteran member of the House Interior Committee; a defender of James G. Watt, President Reagan’s contentious first interior secretary, and a sponsor in the last session of Congress of a bill to permit oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The protection of the refuge is one of the highest priorities of conservation groups.

Told of the Lujan announcement, one environmental leader moaned that he had the same heavy feeling in his heart as when Reagan announced the appointment of Watt eight years ago. But Lujan does not have Watt’s confrontational personality, and Paul Pritchard of the National Parks and Conservation Assn. described Lujan as a solid choice.

If Bush wants a solid environmental record, however, he cannot achieve it by having a strong EPA and a weak Interior Department. There must be a consistent policy from the White House. Many key appointees from the Watt era are entrenched at Interior, and if they remain there will be tremendous resistance to any enlightened environmental policy on issues like offshore oil development, national-park protection, wildlife refuges, wetlands preservation and wilderness. If there is to be change, Bush will have to make his desires clear to Lujan and then offer strong support as he tackles the Interior bureaucracy.