Dear HCN,
Fine piece on the late
John Sawhill by Jon Margolis (HCN, 9/11/00: Remembering an
establishment revolutionary). Lest anyone forget, he was one
helluva public servant, and that rare breed, a GOP conservationist.
As a Newsweek Washington correspondent, I covered him in the Nixon
and Ford administrations during which he put the first ax into the
billion-dollar boondoggle known as the Clinch River Fast Breeder
reactor, aimed at converting nuclear plant waste into weapons-grade
material. In the Ford administration, he was fired in 1974 for
publicly advocating a 50-cent gasoline tax when all about him
warned him against sticking his neck out. His reasons sound eerily
appropriate amidst today’s oil price and supply imbroglio: Such a
tax would reduce air pollution, raise transit funds, and discourage
needless driving. If there is anyone like him today in federal
service or in the Bush camp, they could learn a lot from John’s
work. Now is a good time to speak out before history repeats
itself.
James Bishop
Jr.
Sedona,
Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Learning from John Sawhill.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
