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al gore's real record on protecting the environment
Vice President Al Gore, author of the book "Earth in the Balance," has
tried to distinguish himself from other capitalist politicians based on his
identity with the environmental movement.
Most environmental groups, while harboring some hope that Gore's
rhetoric may some day translate to action, are aware that it is mostly hot
air. For example, Gore is known as an expert on global warming, and is
regularly briefed by the nation's leading climatologists. He has given much
lip-service to this issue, calling for "vigorous action" on "the evidence of an
ecological Kristallnacht."
But what has he done? During the climate treaty summit in Kyoto in 1997,
Greenpeace accused Clinton and Gore of being in bed with Big Oil
because of their retreat on greenhouse emissions in deference to oil
companies like ARCO, Chevron, and Exxon.
When George Bush used to call Gore "ozone man" it was an unearned
compliment. U.S. News and World Report put it this way:
"Gore's vivid language in describing environmental problems is almost never
matched by equally passionate advocacy for a solution, particularly when
powerful economic interests are at stake. Conservative critics who brand
Gore an 'ozone man' have it wrong. On the environment, Gore favors
extreme rhetoric but only incremental solutions."
As a U.S. congressman, Gore's environmental voting record was nothing to
rave about. The League of Conservation Voters accorded him a mere 60
percent rating for his tenure in the House, and 73 percent for the Senate.
Like his father before him, he was beholden to home-state investment
interests associated with construction projects of the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA).
For example, the Tellico Dam became a national issue after biologists
discovered that it would cause the extinction of the snail darter, a tiny fish
that lived in the Little Tennessee River, making the dam a test case for the
Endangered Species Act. Representative Gore was among those voting
successfully to exempt the dam from the ESA.
Gore also supported a "breeder" nuclear reactor at Clinch River, which
was considered such a risky undertaking that the project was killed in
1983. From 1977 to 1984, Gore voted with the nuclear industry 55
percent of the time.
In another example, Gore's influence peddling on behalf of Champion
International Paper Company was one of his more embarrassing
hypocrisies. The Republican Party is unlikely to let him or Americans forget
this one.
For 90 years, Champion had released tons of chemicals and byproducts
from bleaching wood pulp (chemicals including dioxins, some of the most
toxic substances known) into the Pigeon River in North Carolina and
eastern Tennessee. The river has been reported to have the color of coffee
and the smell of sulfur. But Gore didn't need to worry about it running
through his backyard. It mainly runs through the most impoverished towns
of Appalachia.
Although Gore devoted campaign rhetoric to cleaning up the river, when
confronted with capitalist pressures during his first presidential campaign in
1987, he succumbed to croneyism.
Two congressmen beholden to Champion Paper (Terry Sanford and Jamie
Clarke) convinced Gore to lobby EPA to cut Champion some slack in their
waste discharge permit. Then in 1996, EPA under the leadership of Carol
Browner, Gore's former staffer, granted Champion a permit that waived
water quality standards.
At this point an irate citizens group intervened to save the day. Calling
themselves the "Dead Pigeon River Council", they threatened to put up a
billboard labeling Gore a sell-out. After much waffling by Gore, EPA
eventually issued a more stringent permit, and Champion spent millions on
pollution control. Finally, in a typical display of patriotism, Champion put
the plant up for sale.
Here is another example: As vice president, Gore has campaigned for a
substantial weakening of the U.S. law prohibiting the sale of tuna caught
using fishing methods that incidentally kill dolphins. This was done within
the context of international manueverings under the GATT (General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade).
As a closing vignette, much has been made of Gore's trip to China, in
which he was photographed toasting Li Peng, the Chinese leader
associated with the Tiananmen Square massacre and with leading China's
market reforms.
It has been noted that Gore was embarrassed by the photograph, but what
about the occasion of the toast itself? It was a celebration of a $1.5 billion
deal between China and General Motors to produce 100,000 Buick
Centurys and Regals for the burgeoning Chinese auto market.
But there is one important difference between the cars that will be
produced for China and their American counterparts-the Chinese versions
will not have pollution controls.
