[Mb-civic] ENVIRONMENTALISTS OFFER OWN "STATE OF THE UNION"

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

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BUSHGREENWATCH
Tracking the Bush Administration's Environmental Misdeeds
http://www.bushgreenwatch.org
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February 1, 2005

ENVIRONMENTALISTS OFFER OWN "STATE OF THE UNION" 

Aiming to get the jump on President Bush's State of the Union
address tomorrow night, several environmental groups held a
press conference yesterday in Washington to insert their issues
into the news cycle. Mr. Bush's past addresses have given
short-shrift to environmental matters of any kind. 

Global Warming: The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred
since 1990. Yet the Bush Administration continues to stonewall
any of the many proposals to reduce greenhouse gases, the
primary human-caused factor in climate change. 

Indeed, when a host of nations met last month to plan for a
cooperative effort to reduce greenhouse gases, the U.S.
delegation actually worked to obstruct the conference rather
than seek ways to combat the problem (BGW, Dec. 21, 2004). 

Despite the refusal of the U.S. to participate, 128 nations will
begin implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on February 16. The
U.S. is by far the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Meanwhile in Congress, Senators McCain and Lieberman have
introduced the Climate Stewardship Act, a modest attempt to cap
U.S. global warming emissions at 2000 levels by 2010. 

Energy: Intertwined with the global warming issue is the
continuing struggle over a new U.S. energy policy. Congress is
expected to debate a new bill by spring, with most of last
year's features again included. Environmentalists expect the
bill will once more be top-heavy with huge subsidies for the
already-rich oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries, while energy
conservation and alternative energy sources such as wind and
solar again receive little support. 

Congress and the Bush Administration continue to reject any
suggestion of even a slight increase in the automobile fuel
economy standard, which virtually every expert agrees is the
most effective short-term answer to reducing the U.S.'s costly
dependence on imported oil. 

Yet there are signs that the administration is actually aiming
to make the situation even worse. Despite thousands of public
comments urging stronger fuel economy standards, in December the
Bush administration proposed a weight-based system that would
encourage sales of the heaviest vehicles--SUVs and pick-up
trucks--because their mileage requirements are even lower (the
U.S. is already at a 24-year low for average fuel economy). 

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Instead of experts' recommended
solutions to America's foreign oil dependence, the Republican
Congress and White House are again calling for drilling oil in
Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This despite
the fact that none of the oil would reach the lower 48 states
for up to 10 years, and that the most generous estimates predict
ANWR may hold at best only 6-months' supply. 

Clean Air, Water: The Bush Administration is offering a "Clear
Skies" plan that delays deadlines for meeting public health
protections, allows violations of soot and smog health standards
to continue for another 17 years, and repeals measures enacted
by Congress in 1990 that control emissions of smog and soot from
utilities, industry and transportation sources. "Clear Skies"
also weakens protections from toxic mercury emissions and
repeals current protections for local air quality when power
plants expand their capacity. 

Threats to Americans' clean water come more from the Bush
Administration than Congress. Among other things, the
administration is expected to continue seeking to reduce the
number and categories of waters protected, lower water quality
standards and allow dumping more untreated sewage into the
nation's waters. 

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SOURCES: 
State of the Environment 2005,
http://ga3.org/ct/P71g7oM1hm2M/. 

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