MARCH 25, 2009, 5:02 P.M. ET
By STEPHEN POWER
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123801318996041041.html
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's nominee for the No. 2 post in the Environmental Protection Agency is backing out, saying scrutiny of a group he was affiliated with was threatening to become "a distraction" for the administration.
The EPA announced the decision by Jonathan Cannon, nominated for the post of deputy EPA administrator, on Wednesday afternoon, the day before he was scheduled to appear before a Senate panel considering his nomination.
In a written statement, Mr. Cannon said he was voluntarily withdrawing because (click to read the dirt) "it has come to my attention that America's Clean Water Foundation, where I once served on the board of directors, has become the subject of scrutiny. While my service on the board of that now-dissolved organization is not the subject of the scrutiny, I believe the energy and environmental challenges facing our nation are too great to delay confirmation for this position, and I do not wish to present any distraction to the agency."
