Watkins Plans to Step Down as Bush’s Secretary of Energy
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ALBUQUERQUE — Energy Secretary James D. Watkins said Friday that he will leave the Cabinet even if President Bush is reelected to a second term.
“I can’t afford it anymore. I’m a retired Navy veteran. I have had to give up $300,000 in retirement pay,” Watkins, a retired admiral and former chief of naval operations, told reporters.
He gave no details on his plans after leaving the Cabinet.
Watkins was among Cabinet members appointed by Bush when he took office in 1989.
As head of the Energy Department, he launched the first-ever program to clean up pollution at the nation’s nuclear plants, which is expected to cost $100 billion. He also spearheaded the Administration’s energy legislation, which is now pending in Congress.
Watkins served in the Ronald Reagan Administration as head of the presidential AIDS commission.
He retired from the Navy in 1986 after a 41-year career.
Watkins met with reporters during a brief stop at the Albuquerque airport on his way to tour a compressed natural gas facility at Farmington, N.M.
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