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Whitman: 'Time for me to go home'
Editor's Note: CNN Access is a regular feature on CNN.com providing interviews with newsmakers from around the world. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Todd Whitman announced Wednesday her resignation from her post as head of the federal government's office on environmental policy. The former New Jersey governor said she had tendered her resignation to become effective June 27. She spoke about her decision with CNN's Leon Harris. HARRIS: Tell us about this decision. Why now? WHITMAN: Well, now is really the time. If you don't go now, you owe the president to stay through the re-election, and frankly, my husband and I have been married 29 years. For 26 and a half of them, we lived together. The last two and a half, we haven't, and we like it better the other way. So it's really time for me to go home, and go home to him. HARRIS: Let me ask you about something else, because many people expected you to do something like this a long time ago. It's been no secret that you have clashed with the administration quite often in the past on environmental policy, the administration's decision, for instance, to step out of -- or to, at least, not join the Kyoto agreement on limiting global warming gases. What do you say to people who say, what took you so long? WHITMAN: Well, first of all, I'm not leaving because of clashes with the administration. In fact, I haven't had any. I report to the president. He has always asked me to give him my best, unadulterated advice. I have always done that, and we have been on the same page. I was never, as a governor, supportive of Kyoto protocol because it didn't do what everyone needs to get done as far as climate change is concerned. So I'm leaving now because it's the appropriate time to do it. We have just come out with a really important diesel rule. We have had two of the largest settlements in the history of the agency. There's never an ideal time, but this is the best time, and it is the time for me to go home. When my husband gives me roses for Mother's Day, saying welcome home, you know it's time to go home. HARRIS: So you're saying that you have never had any disagreement at all with the administration in the direction it's taken. You've been in lock step? WHITMAN: Well, there's always give and take. That's what administrations are all about, but the president has always wanted my unadulterated opinion, and that doesn't mean that you're having a battle about it. It just means that you give him what you think is your best advice. Other Cabinet members will be doing it from their perspective, and it is not always exactly the same, but we have done some extraordinarily important things for the environment. We have a program that we've just announced that will ensure that every public school child that goes on a public school bus will be riding in a clean, diesel bus by 2012. We have done the off-road diesel initiative. We have done a watershed initiative, an entirely new approach -- from the federal level -- ensuring that we have cleaner water. And, of course, the brown fields legislation was enormously important to helping the land. HARRIS: Are you going to run for the Senate? WHITMAN: No. I have no plans. HARRIS: You're not going to run for the Senate? WHITMAN: No. I have no plans to run for any office. I have been in public office for 20-some odd years now, and it's time to take a little time for myself and see what's next. I don't know what's going to be next. Obviously I'll do something. I enjoy public policy. There are a lot of different ways to contribute, and I'll be looking for what is the best for me. HARRIS: Are you saying you're not going to run for Senate this particular cycle, or you are saying you are not going to run at all? WHITMAN: I have no plans to run for any office, but as you know in this business, you never say never to anything because it keeps you guys interested. No, seriously, I'm just going to take some time off for myself and see what happens. HARRIS: Have you talked with President Bush about your possible successor? WHITMAN: That's between the president and myself and the decision that he makes. We talked about the agency and the future of the agency and the fact that he was pleased with the work that we have been doing, but what decision he makes is his decision. HARRIS: What do you make of the future of the agency as you're now in a position to step away and perhaps look at it with a bit of perspective here. What do you think about the future of the agency? WHITMAN: Well, I hope that the legislation that the president has supported -- giving it Cabinet status -- is passed. It deserves that. I call it the little agency that does. We're one of those agencies that when there's a crisis, people don't always think of us first, but when they think of us, they need us badly. Whether it was in response to 9/11, anthrax, the Columbia shuttle going down, this agency is populated with some extraordinary people, some of the brightest minds and scientists doing incredible work. The hydrogen fuel cell -- I was just out earlier this week to announce a new initiative, putting those hydrogen fuel cells actually on the road, DaimlerChrysler and UPS. This agency is truly making a difference, and the people that do that are the ones who are going to be here, and they are going to stay here, so it is nice and flattering to think that I'm making a difference or that my leaving might make a difference, but, in fact, the work of the agency will continue. HARRIS: Why it is that so many environmentalists across the country do think that there has been something of a standoff between you and President Bush, and why they have been quick to defend you against President Bush? WHITMAN: Well, I think part of it comes because controversy spurs enrollment, and for some groups, that's important. I mean, you look at the national -- the NRDC, National Resource Defense Council. When we came out with our off-road diesel initiative, [they] said that it could possibly be the best thing for public health since we took lead out of gasoline two decades ago. They were attacked by the other environmental groups for having said anything good about this administration, and if there has ever been a frustration being here at EPA, that's been [part] of it. I mean, we have done a lot of good things. The environment engenders a lot of emotion. I understand that. You're always going to have people [who] are unhappy with any decision that you make, and that is fine. You can have good policy decisions, but when you do something that is hailed by everyone, recognized as being really significant and positive for the environment, to have other groups attack one group that says something good just doesn't make any sense, and to me it is a little disingenuous. HARRIS: When did you make this decision? WHITMAN: I talked to the White House a couple of weeks ago to let them know. Around about midway through the term, I started thinking about it, but there were some things that I wanted to get done, [such] as the diesel rule, the NSR settlements that we were able to bring forward, and some of those things. I wanted to get Clear Skies really up and running and do the initial testifying, as I did on the Senate side, so it really was a couple of weeks ago. HARRIS: Did the president try and talk you out of it? WHITMAN: He was very gracious and indicated he wished I would stay, but understood my reasons for leaving.
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