http://www.public-i.org/story_01_020201.htm
Bush's New Chief of Staff
Once Fought for Polluters
By Brenda R. Mayrack
(Washington, Feb. 2) As their top lobbyist, Andrew H. Card Jr. led a $25
million lobbying campaign on behalf of the "Big Three" U.S. automakers, often
fighting against higher environmental standards.
Now, as chief of staff to President George W. Bush, Card may be in a
position to steer U.S. policy favorably for his former employers, who
contributed generously to Bush's campaign and inaugural committees.
The Center for Public Integrity's analysis of more than 600 pages of lobbying
records shows that groups associated with Card, including the American
Automobile Manufacturers Association, the Air Quality Standards Coalition and
General Motors Corp., spent almost $25 million in the last five years
lobbying the federal government. And when either the American Automobile
Manufacturers Association or General Motors lobbied for environmental or
energy policies, records indicate that Card was usually involved.
Card will wield considerable power in the Bush administration. "The chief of
staff plays a central role in the White House," said Terry Sullivan, who
recently organized a "Forum on the Role of the White House Chief of Staff"
for the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. "He organizes
all confluent forces around the president and extends the president's reach."
The chief of staff does act as a policy adviser to the president, according
to Sullivan, but "a good chief of staff will tend to submerge his own policy
interests."
Card is the only chief of staff in the last 20 years to move directly from
lobbying to the White House, and he is the highest ranking auto executive to
serve in government since Ford Motor Co.'s Robert McNamara became John F.
Kennedy's defense secretary in 1961.
More than two decades ago, Card earned a reputation for fighting corruption
as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he
established a commission to investigate fraud in construction at the
University of Massachusetts.
After serving in both the Reagan and Bush administrations, Card joined
President George H.W. Bush's Cabinet in 1992, replacing Samuel K. Skinner as
secretary of transportation. After a one-year stint in that post, he quickly
took advantage of the government-corporate revolving door to become the chief
lobbyist for the automobile industry.
Card represented the interests of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors as
president and CEO of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association from
1993 to 1998. Records analyzed by the Center show that the AAMA spent
$15,099,317 at the federal level on lobbying expenses from 1996 to 1998, the
last three years of Card's tenure.
Coalition sought to block pollution regs
In 1997, the AAMA joined more than 600 business and industry interests,
including the National Association of Manufacturers and the American
Petroleum Institute, to form the Air Quality Standards Coalition. The
coalition sought to block increased Environmental Protection Agency air
pollution regulations for low-level ozone and fine particulate matter. While
Card did not lobby directly for the Air Quality Standards Coalition, he did
serve as co-chair and spokesman for the group. From 1997 to June of 2000, the
coalition spent approximately $600,000 on federal lobbying.
The AAMA dissolved in 1998 because of the Chrysler merger with Daimler Benz,
and Card immediately joined former AAMA patron General Motors as vice
president of governmental relations. During Card's two-year stint at GM, the
company spent $9,140,000 lobbying the federal government.
As chief lobbyist for AAMA and later for GM, Card represented the auto
industry on numerous fronts, ranging from bankruptcy laws to clean air
standards to trade issues, but he spent much of his time lobbying
environmental or energy policy. Reports filed by lobbying organizations are
required to indicate the legislation or issues each lobbyist worked on in a
given reporting period.�
The forms are organized by three-letter codes indicating a certain "issue
area," such as "labor" or "education" or "budget," and list the specific
legislation and lobbyists who worked in that area. An organization like the
AAMA or GM may lobby in up to 20 different issue areas in one six-month
reporting period.
Lobbying reports analyzed by the Center show that Card, as the chief lobbyist
for the AAMA, lobbied in 60 percent of the AAMA's issue areas in general and
in 80 percent of issue areas that concerned environmental or energy policies.
Half of Card's workload involved legislation or policies relating to
environmental or energy issues.
After moving to GM, Card lobbied in 89 percent of the company's issue areas
and in 100 percent of environmental or energy-related issue areas. Here
again, nearly half of Card's issue specialties concerned environmental or
energy issues. While Card lobbied on a wide range of issues for AAMA and GM,
the records show that whenever these two groups had an interest in
environmental or energy legislation, Card was involved more than 90 percent
of the time.
Opposed agreement targeting global warming
As an AAMA lobbyist, Card opposed the Kyoto Protocol, an international
agreement targeting global warming, which called for a 7 percent reduction in
U.S. emissions by 2008. Card predicted that the agreement would "harm the
U.S. economy and do little for the global environment," and protested the
lack of rules for less developed countries, saying that "U.S. negotiators
have signed on to an agreement before fully understanding the competitive and
economic implications."
Card and the AAMA also fought against increased air pollution requirements
within the U.S. In 1994, the Environmental Protection Agency approved
stricter regional guidelines for 12 East Coast states, which would require
automakers to sell some natural gas or electric cars to meet emissions limits
within these states. The AAMA opposed this measure, even filing a lawsuit
against New York and Massachusetts, and offered instead to produce cleaner,
gasoline-powered cars for the entire country, claiming that this plan would
reduce emissions by 70 percent nationwide. According to Card, the AAMA plan
"would lead to cleaner air sooner and at a more affordable cost to
consumers."
Environmental groups were concerned that the AAMA proposal was merely a ploy
to avoid tougher environmental standards. Even an analysis by the
conservative Cato Institute found that the AAMA plan would not reduce
emissions as much as the regional regulations and would allow "American
automakers [to] benefit at the expense of American consumers."
As co-chair of the Air Quality Standards Coalition, Card worked against new
EPA regulations that would reduce smog and soot in urban areas. The Air
Quality Standards Coalition claimed that increased pollution controls would
result higher costs for industry, leading to layoffs and higher costs for
consumers. Card helped wage the public relations war for the group, calling
on Congress "to reverse this extremely harmful and unjustifiable [EPA]
decision."
Most recently, Card fought against increased Corporate Average Fuel
Efficiency (CAFE) standards, which would increase minimum gas mileage
requirements for new vehicles. The auto industry defended its opposition,
citing public perceptions that smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles were
less safe, and pointed out that larger sport utility vehicles and light
trucks -- both known for guzzling gas -- are increasingly popular.
Bush, auto industry have similar agenda
Bush already enjoys the generous financial support of U.S. automakers, and he
and the auto industry have a similar environmental agenda, with a shared
opposition to the Kyoto Protocol and increased air pollution regulations.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, automobile manufacturers
contributed more than $2 million to candidates for federal office and to
political parties during the 2000 election cycle. The "Big Three" automakers
were also the top three contributors. During the last two years,
DaimlerChrysler gave a total of $597,769; Ford contributed $587,225; and
Card's General Motors donated $554,949. The next highest contributor was BMW
of North America, giving a total of only $11,246.
Republicans received more than 70 percent of the automakers' money, with
$1,454,334 in hard and soft money contributions. George W. Bush received
$122,100 from automakers, the most of any candidate and almost six times the
$21,765 given to his opponent, Democrat Al Gore.
Automakers also joined in on the festivities at the Republican National
Convention. General Motors gave $1 million to Philadelphia 2000, the
convention's host committee, and both GM and DaimlerChrysler sponsored
several lavish receptions for various state delegations.
In addition, two of the "Big Three" gave a total of $300,000 to the
Bush-Cheney 2001 Presidential Inaugural Committee. Janet Mullins Grissom,
Ford's vice president of Washington affairs, contributed $100,000. GM's
financing arm, the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, gave $100,000, and
Deborah Dingell, president of the General Motors Foundation and wife of Rep.
John Dingell, D-Mich., also gave $100,000.�
Auto industry colleagues express confidence
"Andy Card is an outstanding person, a man of high integrity, and he will do
a good job. He distinguished himself in many areas at General Motors," said
Bill Noack, Card's former colleague and a Washington spokesman for GM. The
company recently held a reception for Card at the Kennedy Center to celebrate
his promotion to chief of staff.
Environmentalists, however, are concerned that the former lobbyist is now so
close to a president who is already receptive to the auto industry's agenda.
"It's another one for the oil and auto industry and still zero for the
American public. The former General Motors chief Washington lobbyist has
shown his true colors in working to undermine laws that would stop global
warming, make our cars and trucks more fuel efficient, and keep our air
cleaner," said John Passacantando, the executive director of Greenpeace
U.S.A.
Bush has already indicated his support for continued funding of the
Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, a research program that
benefits automakers that Card has pushed for the past five years. Though the
program's goal is a more fuel-efficient car, some question the cost of the
new vehicles' long-term environmental benefits.
Overall, the auto industry is less optimistic that Card's ascension will
translate into access.
"It may mean we get a call returned, but he will probably go out of his way
not to have any conflict. It probably won't make a difference," said Eron
Shosteck of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the successor group to
Card's AAMA.
GM's Noack agrees. "I don't know if it will be good for GM. You've got to
understand that as chief of staff, he will be focusing on a lot of issues,"
Noack said. "If you know Andy Card, you know he's straightforward and he will
not give any special favors. It won't be an issue."
Passacantando isn't convinced. "Card still has a long way to go to prove to
the American people that he will represent them in the White House."
