In other news, environmental groups are criticizing President Bush’s nomination of Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne to run the Department of the Interior. A Knight Ridder analysis in 2003 concluded Kemphthorne oversaw environmental degradation in several key areas — including air quality, rivers, and pollution inspections — during his term as governor of Idaho. According to ThinkProgress.org, Kemphorne has close ties to the same industries he would be responsible for overseeing. In his last re-election campaign, Kempthorne raised $86,000 from companies from the timber, mining and energy industries. Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, said: “Dirk Kempthorne has been an unabashed champion of the resource extraction and development interests that profit most from public land… the president could not have chosen a more divisive nominee.”