The New York Times

Wednesday, January 3, 2001

More Conservatives From Mr. Bush

George W. Bush filled the last three vacancies in his cabinet yesterday, choosing two right-of-center Republicans to run the departments of Energy and Labor and a moderate Democrat for the Department of Transportation. None of these posts equal the policy-making impact of the top jobs at State, Defense, Justice and even Interior. Taken together, however, they reinforce two emerging characteristics of Mr. Bush's cabinet - its essentially conservative cast and its fealty to the major themes of his campaign.

Mr. Bush's choice for energy secretary is Spencer Abraham, the recently defeated junior senator from Michigan. During his brief career on Capitol Hill, Mr. Abraham introduced a bill to abolish the very department he has now been asked to run. His selection is also a further insult to environmentalists still reeling from Mr. Bush's selection last Friday of Gale Norton as interior secretary. In the continuing struggle between the preservation of the country's natural resources and their exploitation, Mr. Abraham, like Ms. Norton, clearly favors exploitation. He, too, supports Mr. Bush's wholly unnecessary scheme to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.

On the basis of his voting record - which routinely received zero ratings from the League of Conservation Voters - he is likely to champion an energy strategy that depends far more on production than on conservation, though any sensible policy would give at least equal weight to both. Similarly, he seems indifferent to issues that interested the incumbent secretary, Bill Richardson, including the development of cleaner cars and alternative fuels and, in general, a more energy-efficient economy. He also voted to roll back federal clean water and clean air programs.

Linda Chavez, the labor secretary-designate, is a highly ideological choice. As staff director of the Commission on Civil Rights and later as a senior adviser in the White House, she became one of the Reagan administration's most visible Hispanic officials. Her allies describe her as strongly committed to racial and ethnic equality, but she has often been at odds with Hispanic activists, in part because she opposes affirmative action and bilingual education. She was an outspoken supporter of California's Proposition 227, the ballot measure aimed at ending 30 years of bilingual education in California.

The choice of Norman Mineta, presently the secretary of commerce, as transportation secretary satisfies Mr. Bush's pledge to appoint a Democrat. Mr. Mineta is popular on Capitol Hill, and brings to his new job a broad familiarity with transportation issues, especially aviation. In 1997 he headed a top- level panel that warned of gridlock in the country's crowded skies.

The three choices definitely broaden the new cabinet's ethnic composition. Mr. Abraham is Arab- American, Ms. Chavez Hispanic and Mr. Mineta Japanese-American. What they do not add is significant ideological diversity.