| A Polluters Feast by Tim Dickinson What can you say about the environmental record of an administration that seeks to test pesticides on poor children and pregnant women? That argues in cour that a dam is prt of a salmon's natural environment? That places a timber lobbyist in charge of the national forests and an oil lobbyist in charge of government reports on global warming? That cuts clean-air inspections at oil refineries in half, allows superfund to go bankrupt and permits the minin industy ro pump toxic waste directly into a wild Alaskan lake? Only this: It's about to get even worse..... * The Briefing by Tim Dickinson The Bush Index The president's zeal to gut environmental protections is matched only by his reluctance to enforce the law. In this special Environmental crimes edition of The Briefing, we offer a snapshot of Bush's record since 2000: *Percent drop in federal lawsuits for environmental violations: 75 *Percent increase in permits for oil and gas drilling on federal lands: 75 *Annual savings to industry from Bush's refusal to mandate lead-paint cleanup: $3,000,000,000 *Percent decline in federal fines against industrial polluters: 60 *Years since number of fines has been so low: 14 *Percent decline in federal superfund cleanups of toxic wastes: 52 *Acres of untouched forests opened to developers: 58,500,000 *Endangered species that live in these areas: 220 *Species added to the endangered list by Bush: 31 * Species added by Bush's father: 228 *Acres designated as wilderness by the Bush administration: 530,000 *Acres designated by Ronald Reagan: 10,600,000 *** Smogging The States ... Instead of going after Hummers, the rule targets a far greater threat: California. The state has ordered the auto industry to cut carbondioxide emissions by thirty percent by 2016, and eight other states plan to follow suit. But under a provision on page 150 of the new Bush rule, such state limits would be "expressly preempted." *** So Long Yosemite Bush also wants to gut the standard that protects national parks from developers. Under a new rule drafted by a former aide to Dick Cheney, regulators would no longer have to ensure that parks remain "unimpaired" for future generations - only that the damage would not be "irreversible." Among the stunning vistas you might enjoy on your next trip to Yellowstone: strip mines, oil rigs, logging and cell-phone towers. |