From day one of her tenure as EPA’s top administrator, it was anything but smooth sailing for Christie Todd Whitman. The former New Jersey governor and moderate Republican tried to keep both oars in the water, attempting to strike a nearly impossible pro-environment pro-business balance.

She ended up bruised and badmouthed by lobbyists on both sides, with her own boss lending some of the hardest blows when he backed out of a campaign promise on carbon emissions and out of the Kyoto Treaty.

With her resignation, Whitman leaves a checkered environmental legacy and even bigger questions about the future of environmental protection under the Bush administration.

Environmentalists didn’t trust her. Neither did Big Business. Did Christie Todd Whitman fight the good fight or did she fumble?

Click the “Listen” link to hear about the legacy and record of Christie Todd Whitman as head of EPA in the pro-business Bush administration.

Guests:

Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth

Fred Smith, former EPA analyst and current president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute

Eric Pianin, staff writer for the Washington Post

John Dineen, editor of the Congressional Green Sheets