From March 29, 2001
Bush Names Former Monsanto Executive as EPA Deputy Administrator
On March 23, 2001, George W. Bush announced that Linda J. Fisher, a former executive of the Monsanto Co. as well as an official with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Reagan administration, was his top choice to be deputy EPA administrator.
According to a Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) story, Ms. Fisher most recently served as vice president of government affairs for Monsanto, an agricultural biotechnology firm based in St. Louis, from 1995 to June 2000. The Monsanto Corporation is widely known for its production of the herbicide Roundup and genetically engineered Roundup-ready crops, which are altered to survive a dousing of the toxic herbicide. Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate, is known to cause eye soreness, headaches, diarrhea, and other flu-like symptoms, and has been linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Prior to her position
with Monsanto, Ms. Fisher was chief of staff for EPA administrator Lee
M. Thomas from 1985 to 1988, assistant administrator for policy, planning,
and evaluation from 1988 to 1989, and assistant administrator for prevention,
pesticides, and toxic substances from 1989 to 1993.