Following yesterday's announcement that she would be resigning from her post as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Christine Todd Whitman has said President Bush should have made his environmental policy clearer.

In an interview with NBC EPA chief Ms Whitman, who said her decision to leave was for personal reasons, said she had become frustrated at the manner in which the handling of the Kyoto treaty had been done.

She argued that the decision not to go ahead with the international Kyoto treaty on global warming as well as a 'u-turn' regarding the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions had harmed Bush's image at home and abroad.

'We should have laid out the fact that we weren't walking away from a commitment to addressing climate change because the administration is not. We are doing an awful lot that most people don't know about,' Ms Whitman insisted.

According to Ms Whitman the reversal of a promise by Bush during his presidential campaign to cut carbon dioxide emissions was particularly difficult.

'It caught me by surprise, that one,' she admitted.