Sununu Pulled Rank

On November 15, 1989, an historic Memorandum of Agreement n wetlands mitigation was signed between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Strongly supported by conservationists, the agreement was to take effect on December 15, 1989. However, many powerful Alaskan oil and gas interests, along with the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy, effectively lobbied the White House staff to delay its implementation several times. In the end, despite an outpouring of letters, calls, and mailgrams to President Bush urging him to resist efforts to delay or weaken the agreement, a watered-down version of the MOA became effective on February 7, 1990.