The Bush/Cheney Top 10 Environmental Insults

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. “Clear Skies”? Not to Our Eyes
President Bush’s “Clear Skies” initiative undercuts protections for soot, smog and toxic mercury, weakens pollution safeguards and relies on voluntary action from power plants to curb carbon dioxide emissions. It does nothing to clear our skies, yet President Bush continues to believe that by using the right words, the American people can be deceived.

2. Water Water Everywhere, With a Few Drops of Arsenic to Spare
President Bush has undermined the Clean Water Act at nearly every turn. Almost immediately after Bush took office, the EPA weakened controls on raw sewage discharge and tried to throw out President Clinton’s standards for arsenic in drinking water before a public outcry forced them to retreat. And that was just the beginning. President Bush proclaimed October 18, 2002 through October 17, 2003 “The Year of Clean Water.”

3. Broken Promises on Global Warming
President Bush could have recognized the growing scientific consensus and confronted the problem of global warming. Instead, Bush rejected the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the National Academy of Sciences and called for “further study” of the issue. In the meantime, he retracted a campaign pledge to support laws reducing carbon pollution and withdrew from the Kyoto Protocols without presenting an alternative.

4. Wasting Time on Toxic Waste
George Bush has assembled a dismal record on toxic waste cleanup. The Administration’s Superfund site cleanup rate is 50 percent slower than during President Clinton’s second term and designation of new Superfund sites has dropped significantly.

5. The Logging Industry’s Best Friend
The Administration’s deceptively named “Healthy Forests” initiative poses a grave threat to our natural resources. Our forest policy is starting to resemble the wishlist of the logging industry. Bush proposes to exempt a number of logging activities from the protections of the National Environmental Policy Act and to sharply curtail judicial review of federal logging decisions.

6. Ground Zero Cover-Up
High-ranking Bush administration officials instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to downplay the dangers of air pollution at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attack. The EPA repeatedly reassured the public that the air at ground zero was safe to breathe despite the presence of high levels of dangerous substances at the scene.

7. Hooked on Foreign Oil
George Bush pays lip service to reducing our dependence on foreign oil but he doesn’t take action. His first budget cut funding for renewable energy research by 50 percent. The Administration has repeatedly sided with industry and passed up the opportunity to bring about a meaningful decrease in auto emissions.

8. Drillin’ Their Way Through Our Energy Problem
The Bush Administration has an insatiable appetite for coastal oil drilling. The President advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve and the Administration fought vigorously to make it easier to drill for wells off California’s shores. They only gave up the fight after being defeated twice in court. Now, the Administration is trying to rewrite federal roles to limit the amount of influence that states have on decisions affecting their coastlines.

9. Taking Environmental Cops Off the Beat
George Bush’s first budget proposal slashed $500 million in Environmental Protection Agency spending including a $25 million cut enforcement funds and the elimination of 270 EPA enforcement jobs. Those draconian cuts were blocked by Congress but Bush did cut 210 enforcement jobs. Enforcement activities are also way down and Bush’s 2004 budget could make things even worse.

10. Endangered Species? They don’t vote
George Bush always takes care of the mining and logging industries even when the survival of endangered species is at stake. The Administration has failed to adequately fund endangered species conservation programs and has repeatedly sought broad exemptions from the Endangered Species Act.

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