34 - Wyoming, Anne Gorsuch Burford
Mother to one of our current Associate Justice of the Peace, Anne Gorsuch Burford was the first Woman Administrator to the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately and regardless of being a leader to a lot of similarities to what we are experiencing right now, she was a pioneer.
Wyoming is the 27th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on January 27, 1920.
In 1981, Ronald Reagan appointed Ms. Gorsuch Burford to Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She moved through school quickly, graduating University of Colorado Boulder at 19 and receiving her Juris Doctor (law) degree at 22. She received a Fulbright Scholarship to study criminal law in Jaipur, India for one year with her husband David Gorsuch.
She served most of her representation in Colorado before joining Reagan’s transition team. Her nomination was unanimously agreed upon in 1981. Her “New Federalist” approach to the EPA pushed to downsize federal agencies to the states and cut the budget of the EPA by 22%. Some noted “her policies were designed to placate polluters, and accused her of trying to dismantle the agency.”
Gorsuch was the first administrator to be cited for Contempt of Congress for not releasing information on mis-handling of $1.6 billion of toxic waste “Superfund”. This caused her to resign her post.
She has noted her career was “so bogged down in the fight with Congress over the doctrine of executive privilege, that the agency itself seemed hardly to be functioning ...” A second appointment to the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere was troubling during the process, and she resulted in denying the role, leaving the government service.
Why this woman?
This research was in my list since the beginning with enthusiasm to see a woman that joined the race to be a change agent. I was unaware of her role and actual effect. Though I am not proud of what she accomplished, I am interested in seeing the women that have entered the realm of change in what they could do in the past. Among many things, Anne Gorsuch was known for not enforcing the toxic sprays of insecticides around America, proven by Rachel Carson (see week 9) in the 1970s that the effects of sprays infect every organism for generations.
The government climate is so close to this story. It hit many emotional chords in me to read this and feel, yet again, we are repeating history. The appointment by President Trump to dismantle the EPA happened three years ago. In a time where we are at the precipice of global crisis, this important role with the voice of the most powerful country, it is being dismantled or downplayed. I am blessed to be in a state that fights on its own for the Earth. But as shown in Australia right now, everything we do affects everything around the globe. There is no regionalism of the climate crisis. The smoke from Australia is on its way here to oppress local climates.
The silver lining I can take away is almost forty years ago, the EPA went through the same thing they are right now. And they came back. Stronger and more aggressive than before. The need to recover will need to be faster, but it will happen. Hopefully the cycle will be over, and we can unify to stop the impact on our only planet. Soap box over.
Wyoming is the 27th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on January 27, 1920.
In 1981, Ronald Reagan appointed Ms. Gorsuch Burford to Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She moved through school quickly, graduating University of Colorado Boulder at 19 and receiving her Juris Doctor (law) degree at 22. She received a Fulbright Scholarship to study criminal law in Jaipur, India for one year with her husband David Gorsuch.
She served most of her representation in Colorado before joining Reagan’s transition team. Her nomination was unanimously agreed upon in 1981. Her “New Federalist” approach to the EPA pushed to downsize federal agencies to the states and cut the budget of the EPA by 22%. Some noted “her policies were designed to placate polluters, and accused her of trying to dismantle the agency.”
Gorsuch was the first administrator to be cited for Contempt of Congress for not releasing information on mis-handling of $1.6 billion of toxic waste “Superfund”. This caused her to resign her post.
She has noted her career was “so bogged down in the fight with Congress over the doctrine of executive privilege, that the agency itself seemed hardly to be functioning ...” A second appointment to the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere was troubling during the process, and she resulted in denying the role, leaving the government service.
Why this woman?
This research was in my list since the beginning with enthusiasm to see a woman that joined the race to be a change agent. I was unaware of her role and actual effect. Though I am not proud of what she accomplished, I am interested in seeing the women that have entered the realm of change in what they could do in the past. Among many things, Anne Gorsuch was known for not enforcing the toxic sprays of insecticides around America, proven by Rachel Carson (see week 9) in the 1970s that the effects of sprays infect every organism for generations.
The government climate is so close to this story. It hit many emotional chords in me to read this and feel, yet again, we are repeating history. The appointment by President Trump to dismantle the EPA happened three years ago. In a time where we are at the precipice of global crisis, this important role with the voice of the most powerful country, it is being dismantled or downplayed. I am blessed to be in a state that fights on its own for the Earth. But as shown in Australia right now, everything we do affects everything around the globe. There is no regionalism of the climate crisis. The smoke from Australia is on its way here to oppress local climates.
The silver lining I can take away is almost forty years ago, the EPA went through the same thing they are right now. And they came back. Stronger and more aggressive than before. The need to recover will need to be faster, but it will happen. Hopefully the cycle will be over, and we can unify to stop the impact on our only planet. Soap box over.
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