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Case Study: The Winds of Change

Background Many scholars view the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring as the beginning of the environmental movement. Concerns over air quality, safe drinking water, climate change, and scores of other issues related to environmental health and safety have been constant issues on the public agenda for many years. The public policy solution for some of these problems comes in the form of federal regulatory measures. Fines and sanctions often are used to punish those who do not comply with the regulations. Environmental regulations often come under heavy criticism. Early criticisms of environmental regulations frequently came from the political right in the form of free market advocates who viewed regulation as an illegitimate intrusion of government into the economy. In more recent times, various segments of the political spectrum have shown interest in using non-regulatory means for improving environmental quality.

Situation Senator George T. McClure served on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works since its inception in 1977. For more than twenty years, Senator McClure also served as chair of the committee when his party controlled the Senate and as the ranking minority member when his party was not in control. Senator McClure retired from the Senate in 2008. His longtime friend and political ally James J. Envigood assumed the chairmanship of the committee upon McClure’s retirement. Senator McClure was a skillful legislator who knew the ways of the Senate and was very adept at stopping legislation and moving it forward. Bills coming out of McClure’s committee usually were passed by the Senate with few amendments. Although McClure was a skillful legislator, he was not always the most knowledgeable person in terms of public policy. McClure depended on Envigood to be his policy expert on the committee. McClure was fond of saying that an environmental matter that Envigood did not know about was not worth knowing. One of Envigood’s first actions as chair was to ask John Bury, the committee’s chief of staff, to provide him with a document outlining several nonregulatory ways to implement environmental protection policy. Bury was a holdover from the McClure regime and did not get along with Envigood. Bury thought that Envigood was a know-it-all and, unlike his old boss, naive in the ways of the Senate. Bury also thought that because of his strong relationship with McClure, Envigood would never fire him. Bury dismissed McClure’s assignment because he did not think it was worth his time or effort. After a few heated exchanges with Envigood, Bury resigned his position and formed his own consulting firm. Word of Bury’s problems with Senator Envigood spread throughout Washington and it was difficult for him to attract clients to his firm. Several times Bury was heard saying

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that he wished he had his old job back. Bury finally contacted George McClure and asked him to speak with Senator Envigood on his behalf. McClure was able to convince Envigood to rehire Bury. Bury was hired as a senior staff member but not as chief of staff. His first assignment was to write a document outlining several non-regulatory ways to implement environmental protection legislation. This time around, Bury was determined to do an excellent job and prove his worth to Envigood.