Meet the New Boss at the EPA - the Same As the Old Boss at the EPA ... Sigh ...

Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt is the new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In Orion Magazine, Larry Young, executive director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, noted that Leavitt made a "secret deal with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton that placed some 6 million acres of Utahs Redrock wilderness on the chopping block. Without a shred of public discussion or notice, Leavitt settled an already moribund lawsuit to block the Bureau of Land Management from inventorying and protecting Utah wilderness. By preventing inventorying, the deal additionally prohibits the BLM from protecting tens of millions more acres of potential wilderness outside of Utah and across the West, affecting lands far beyond his jurisdiction."

President Bush said Leavitts nomination: "I selected Mike Leavitt because he is a trusted friend, a capable executive and a man who understands the obligations of environmental stewardship." Scary.