James Rowen
Op Ed

Will Stepp Join U.S. EPA Wrecking Crew?

Her radical reshaping of state DNR may make her the perfect candidate.

By - Aug 10th, 2017 04:04 pm
Cathy Stepp. Photo from the State of Wisconsin.

Cathy Stepp. Photo from the State of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp has confirmed to the Journal Sentinel that she’s been discussing joining the Trump administration.

Would she accept an offer?

“Depends on what the job would be,” Stepp said.

I’d written her up in December as a potential US EPA wrecking crew member, but I said it was a long-shot.

…Wisconsinites with private sector, public sector and the right/Right correct partisan and ideological credentials who might rate a look by Trump or his transition team…

Cathy Stepp, whom Walker appointed to run the agency because she had the “chamber of commerce mentality” he wanted to direct his DNR redefinition which continues to be embedded and operate there.

She spoke publicly for Trump during the campaign and has, on paper a resume which might have some appeal, having been a land developer, a Wisconsin State Senator, and high-profile cabinet Secretary for nearly five years – – and is on a first name basis with Elizabeth Uihlein, a major donor to Republicans, Gov. Scott Walker and Donald Trump, as I noted recently.

Stepp might not want to move to Washington, DC, but could be dropped into a spot like Regional Director at the US Environmental Protection Agency Chicago’s office and easily commute there from her Racine County base.

But as it turns out, I underestimated Trump’s depravity and Stepp’s ambition.

Some federal appointees in our Nation’s Capital might want to read up on just who their new boss really is if Stepp gets the job offer she wants from the same Donald Trump she last year pitched to the “ladies” even after candidate Trump’s Access Hollywood tape about kissing and groping ‘ladies’ had aired a million times:

*  You have to start with her own anti-DNR rant back in 2009 that proved to Walker she had the right mentality to run the state’s conservation, clean air and water agency.

*  Them there was the day she turned DNR offices into Halloween treats-and-fun houses.

*  And when she chaffed having to acknowledge state employees’ rights and longed for the good old days when she could move around her McDonald’s workers with more authority.

*  Yet she did get good ratings, from herself, calling herself “uniquely qualified” to run the DNR.

Cathy Stepp. Photo from the Wisconsin DNR.

Cathy Stepp. Photo from the Wisconsin DNR.

*  Though not everyone liked her posing with a tiny deer she shot.

*  Now to the more damaging matters, like helping Walker kill the DNR’s nearly-century old popular, subscriber-paid magazine and also deleting climate change data and materials from the agency’s web pages.

*  And serving as Walker’s tool to turn the department into a pro-business, pollution-enabling agency.

All of which has probably helped her gain the attention of the Trump administration.

James Rowen, a former journalist and mayoral staffer in Milwaukee and Madison, writes a regular blog, The Political Environment

Categories: Environment, Op-Ed, Politics

6 thoughts on “Op Ed: Will Stepp Join U.S. EPA Wrecking Crew?”

  1. Rich says:

    Don’t forget the termination of outreach, like no more DNR pavilion at State Fair

  2. Rita says:

    She bought into the radical koch agenda long ago. Good riddance and here is to, hopefully, a short career as people across this country wake up to the reality of the fossil fuel and financial sectors takeover of our governments and institutions.

  3. Wisconsin Conservative Dgiest says:

    She has done great job, the DNR had been stacked with nutty Lefties.

  4. Dumbledore says:

    The only reason Cathy Stepp, Scott Fitzgerald and other high-level Republicans are not in DC is the Trump Administration’s own ineptitude. They still are far behind past administrations (regardless of party) for even nominating people to positions that require Senate approval, and they haven’t even been able to get through their own vetting process for lower level positions.

    Just as an example, it took nine months after the election before US DOT was able to hire a former transportation official who headed the Indiana DOT under Mike Pence, and that was to a position that didn’t require Senate confirmation. You’d think that someone who was a cabinet secretary under Governor Pence could have been installed right after the inauguration.

  5. Wisconsin Conservative Dgiest says:

    Dumblesore is good name. left has done everything possible to destroy Trump, his people after the incompetents dumped three wars in his lap, a lousy jobs and economy.

  6. Vincent Hanna says:

    Trump is destroying himself. But remember WCD, the GOP controls Congress. Nothing gets done without them. So it’s not just “the left” that is going after Trump. Not even close.

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