From Deseret News archives:
EPA duties keep Leavitt scrambling
Former governor feels like he is still campaigning
After all, if President Bush loses on Nov. 2, Leavitt, the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, would "wake up on Nov. 3 with a whole new life."
When coupled with the amount of traveling he has done an estimated 39 states and five countries during his tenure with the EPA he said it may as well be a campaign, even if the president told his Cabinet members to eschew campaigning and focus on doing their jobs.
"I enjoyed campaigning, and when I hit eight or nine states in a week, it can feel like campaigning," Leavitt said. "But I am glad to have a cycle off."
Leavitt made the round of Utah media outlets Thursday, giving him a chance to "catch up" with the news organizations who covered him for more than a decade before he was appointed by Bush last year.
Among the stops was an hourlong conversation with the Deseret Morning News Editorial Board, as well as a guest appearance on KSL Radio's "Doug Wright Show" and on-air chats with multiple television stations.
"There are very few environmental problems that don't have numerous geographic and political subdivisions," Leavitt said. "You need to have creative, collaborative problem-solving."
Air quality has been a predominant issue for Leavitt, both in improving air quality and preventing further pollution. Currently, he said, the EPA is developing technology that will cut emissions from coal-fired power plants to almost nothing.
They are also always looking for ways to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency in vehicles, something he said may be best accomplished by new technology that makes diesel engines less polluting than unleaded gas engines, as well as quiet and reliable in cold weather two problems that scare American consumers away from the diesel engines Europeans heavily favor.
"If we were able to reach the penetration level that diesel engines have in European countries which I think we will in the next decade we could eliminate the dependance on foreign oil equal to what we import from Saudi Arabia," he said.
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