April 24, 2001
		Whitman "Confused" About Arctic Drilling Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman was apparently speaking in "confusion" Sunday when she said that the Bush administration was backing off its plans to drill within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on "Face the Nation", according to White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. Whitman also conceded on the ABC News program "This Week" that it would be "very difficult" for Mr. Bush to win Congressional approval for his plan. On Monday, Fleischer contradicted Whitman, saying that the task force report being prepared by Vice President Dick Cheney will recommend that drilling be allowed on a section of the 19-million-acre preserve. This is not the first time Whitman has apparently been left out of the loop regarding Bush administration policy. Earlier this year, she said Mr. Bush was going to keep his campaign promise to lower carbon dioxide emissions from power plant, only to discover that the president had decided against such a policy. The proposal to drill for oil in the Arctic has drawn wide criticism, including some from within the Republican ranks. A bipartisan group of 40 members of Congress sent a letter to Bush on April 24, urging him to withdraw the proposed drilling plan. "Of all the measures you could possibly choose to make the centerpiece of national energy policy," it read, "drilling in the refuge is most certain to evoke a strong, vigorous, negative reaction in Congress." Acknowledging this opposition, on the CBS News program "Face The Nation," Ms. Whitman said that the refuge "couldn't be drilled if Congress didn't support it," and that: "Somebody may have made a decision somewhere, but as far as our report goes, we didn't specifically say you must drill in [the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve]. We didn't recommend that to the president." Interior Secretary Gail Norton, though, said on CNN's "Late Edition" that the Bush administration was not deterred by the opposition. "We have to convince Congress that we can do this in an environmentally responsible way." she said, adding, "It's still something that we think ought to be explored." Fleischer claimed that Whitman was confused "as a result of the question."