Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy
Encyclopedia
Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA) is a Republican environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

 organization founded in 1998 by Gale Norton
Gale Norton
Gale Ann Norton served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush...

, who in 2001 became George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

's U.S. Secretary of the Interior. CREA "evolved from a group" Italia Federici
Italia Federici
Italia Federici , the former president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy . Federici was also a political aide to Secretary of the Interior and CREA co-founder Gale Norton...

 and Norton founded in 1997 "with tax activist Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...

 to push for Republican environmental goals." The organization's steering committee includes lobbyists for the petroleum, mining, and auto manufacturing industries. The organization's president, Italia Federici
Italia Federici
Italia Federici , the former president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy . Federici was also a political aide to Secretary of the Interior and CREA co-founder Gale Norton...

, pleaded guilty in 2007 to obstructing the U.S. Senate investigation into the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal is a United States political scandal relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Indian casino gambling interests for an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon...

 and for siphoning CREA funds for personal use. Abramoff donated more than $400,000 to her charity, after which time she began using her connections with J. Steven Griles, to influence him to make decisions beneficial to Abramoff's tribal benefactors. Later in 2007, CREA's vice president, Jared Carpenter
Jared Carpenter
Robert Jared Carpenter was the vice president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy beginning in 2000. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to one count of income tax evasion. He and CREA president Italia Federici, who previously pleaded guilty on similar charges, had used CREA funds for...

, pleaded guilty of tax evasion for also diverting CREA funds for personal use.

History

In a profile of Norton, the Natural Resources Defense Council
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing...

 wrote of CREA that "true pro-environment Republicans, the Republicans for Environmental Protection, have called her group a 'green scam'."

In August 2004, a coalition of environmental groups released a report based on documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealing "that a Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...

 policy directive has eliminated federal Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...

 protections for streams, wetlands, lakes and rivers across the nation."

At the heart of the report were 15 case studies documenting "how the administration's January 2003 policy directive has prompted federal regulators to avoid protecting ponds, lakes, rivers, and entire watersheds from toxic pollution."

CREA fired off a media release denouncing the report that the groups "will" release before it had even read the report. (Presumably CREA was responding to the details contained in a media advisory). CREA president Italia Federici
Italia Federici
Italia Federici , the former president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy . Federici was also a political aide to Secretary of the Interior and CREA co-founder Gale Norton...

 claimed that if the groups were detailing 15 case studies, by implication "these organizations agreed with approximately 99,985 wetlands decisions made by the Corps -- a whopping 99.99%."

As of December 2010 the CREA website appears to have been taken down, and there is no longer evidence that the organization continues to exist.

Funding

In a profile of Norton, the Natural Resource Defense Council referred to CREA as being "a group sponsored by mining, chemical and chlorine industries."

Beginning early in 2001, Indian tribes gave more than $250,000 to CREA. The donations were made at the recommendation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...

; the tribes were his clients. The suggestion for donations had come from staffers of Representative Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...

, who were advising Abramoff on how to gain influence with Norton. On September 24, 2001, at a private fundraising dinner arranged by CREA, Coushatta tribal chairman Lovelin Poncho and Abramoff sat at Norton's table, while tribal attorney Kathy Van Hoof sat at another table with Norton's top deputy, Steven Griles
Steven Griles
James Steven "Steve" Griles was a coal industry lobbyist and the United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior during the George W...

. The Gun Lake tribe of Pottawatomi, one of the rivals of Abramoff's tribal clients, has said that it believed Abramoff's lobbying stalled Interior's approval of its casino by at least 14 months.

Honorary Board

The honorary board of CREA consists of Gaylon Layfield and Jimmy Wheat of The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Doug Wheeler of Hogan and Hartson LLP and former secretary of the California Resources Agency
California Resources Agency
The California Natural Resources Agency is a state cabinet-level agency in the government of California. The institution and jurisdiction of the Natural Resources Agency is provided for in California Government Code sections 12800 and 12805, et seq...

, Linda Porter of the Land Trust of Virginia, Gary Baise of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP and an early director of the EPA's Office of Legislation, and biotech advisor George Xixis of Nutter McClennen & Fish
Nutter McClennen & Fish
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP is a prominent law firm in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1879 by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis and his Harvard Law School classmate Samuel D. Warren....

.

Contact information

2117 L Street, NW • Number 303

Washington, DC 20037

Phone: 202.625.7110


(A late July 2004 media release listed the organizations address as 2100 M Street, NW • Number 303 Washington, DC 20037).

2004


2006


2007



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