Voinovich, a Republican, will take over the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property and Nuclear Safety, which is being ceded by the more senior Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. Inhofe will assume the gavel of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, which Voinovich headed in 1999 and 2000. As Ohio's governor, Voinovich aggressively lobbied against plans to tighten air standards under the Clean Air Act, the nation's main air pollution law. He clashed with New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, a Republican who is considered likely to be President-elect George W. Bush's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Whitman wanted the federal government to crack down on pollution blowing from the Midwest to Northeast states such as New Jersey.
Current law requires the government to look only at health risks before acting.
Difference in style Environmental lobbyists said Voinovich will bring a different style of chairmanship than Inhofe, not a different philosophy. Voinovich is more subtle. But they both have the same basic views,'' said Ed Hopkins of the Sierra Club. From a clean air standpoint, Voinovich is probably more dangerous than Inhofe.'' Voinovich's press secretary, Scott Milburn, noted that the senator worked closely with environmental groups, including some that had criticized him, in the crafting of landmark legislation to protect the Everglades. The clean air subcommittee had been Voinovich's first choice in 1999, but Inhofe, who is in his second term, had more seniority.