Gov. Ridge served 12 years in Congress. Prior to the 2000 GOP National Convention, Ridge stirred controversy as a possible Bush vice presidential candidate because he is a Catholic who supports limited abortion rights (he opposes late-term abortions and supports such restrictions as parental-consent laws). Gov. Ridge approved $320 million in taxpayer money to build four sports stadiums in ’99—after taking $180,000 in contributions from owners of the beneficiary teams. Ridge’s top environmental appointee, James Seif, is a Bush campaign advisor who attended a 2000 meeting in which executives of polluting industries huddled with state officials of states such as Texas that face sanctions for flunking federal air standards. Participants explored how federal air standards might be relaxed if Bush becomes president (see Pioneer Thomas Kuhn).