With the Green Mountains towering in the background, Christie Whitman threw her support Monday behind Republican U.S. House candidate Martha Rainville, saying that as a Republican, Rainville has a better chance of working with the Bush administration to help the environment than a Democrat would.

Whitman, former governor of New Jersey , served as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Bush administration from 2001 to 2003. She attended a fund-raising luncheon for Rainville at the Trapp Family Lodge, followed by other campaign events Monday and today.

At a news conference, Rainville introduced Whitman as "a woman who has stood up for the environment, for the economy and for citizens."

Whitman, asked if she found it difficult to work with Bush on the environment, said Republican opposition in Congress was more of a problem. "I had a hard time with the Hill," she said. "The problem is that everything that happened in Washington , and happens today, is communicated through the prism of politics."

When the Bush administration did good things environmentally, she said, Republicans didn't talk about them because some feared it wouldn't help politically. Discussion about reducing air pollution was never taken up in committee by Republicans or Democrats, she said.

Whitman said Rainville, if elected, will be able to help turn things around. "Martha Rainville stands a better chance of working with this administration than any Democrat does," Whitman said. "She will also stand up to her party."

Rainville's Democratic opponent, Peter Welch, has made party identity a focus of the campaign. Rainville would, by voting for Republican House leaders, leave Congress' priorities unchanged, Welch has argued.

Welch campaign spokesman Andrew Savage said Monday, "Sending another Republican to Washington will only further enable the leadership and committee chairs that have launched a frontal assault on basic environmental protections."

Rainville said she doesn't know who will be running for speaker of the House, but she will vote for a Republican who "is a voice for what we need."

Rainville said environmental problems can be solved only by working with both parties, a stance Whitman echoed. Whitman said there has been almost no significant environmental legislation since 1992 because the two parties stopped talking to each other.

Savage questioned Whitman's and Rainville's environmental commitment and their ability to stand up to the Bush administration. Citing Rainville's opposition to a pending wilderness bill, her support for nuclear power and comments she made questioning whether global warming is entirely a manmade problem, Savage said, "Martha Rainville's positions are in line with the current Republican leadership."

"Whitman was head of the EPA while the administration blatantly edited reports to deny global warming," Savage said. "She's certainly not a leading environmentalist."