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February 3, 2005
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State of the Environment |
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This week, the environmental community gave a pre-buttal
of sorts
to the President's State of the Union address. Since the President
managed to say little about the environment, except in context with the
Administration's rehashed energy bill, environmental groups presented
the state of affairs in the environmental arena -- a State of the
Environment, if you will. The full document is available at this link.
Here are the highlights:
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge |
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Like
an old broken record, the Bush Administration and allies in Congress
are once again itching to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
drilling. This comes despite the fact that a solid majority of
Americans oppose drilling in the sensitive habitat and two top oil
giants have pulled out of the lobbying effort to open the Refuge,
saying they have no desire to drill there.
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Energy and Global Warming |
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Congress
and the Bush Administration are gearing up to force (yet another) vote
on the twice-failed, polluter-friendly, pork-filled energy bill.
Little, if anything, has changed in the bill -- still weak on
renewables, still lets polluters off the hook on MTBE, still supports
dirty energy sources of the past instead of looking to a cleaner, more
efficient future. As far as global warming goes, the U.S. appears to be
one of the very few with a do-nothing approach to one of the world's
most pressing issues.
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Clean Air |
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The
Bush Administration and allies in Congress are pushing for an air
pollution plan that would weaken protections against soot, smog, and
toxic mercury; hurt National Parks and states that are downwind from
polluters; and worsen global warming.
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Clean Water |
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The
Clean Water Act continues to be assaulted from the Bush Administration
through rulemakings, directives, and other policies by the executive
branch. This is because there is strong bipartisan support in Congress
supporting the Clean Water Act, making it unlikely that any
Congressional action would be taken to weaken the Act.
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Endangered Species |
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In
its 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has protected many species on
the brink of extinction. But despite broad public support, the Bush
Administration and allies in Congress intend to move several "reforms"
forward, endangering the very Act itself. These initiatives attempt to
undermine this important safety net for America's threatened wildlife.
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Oceans |
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Our
oceans are in trouble and urgent action needs to be taken -- so said
two blue-ribbon panel reports released last year. On the Congressional
front, several bills were introduced that would seek to implement panel
recommendations. The Bush Administration reacted to the most recent
panel's findings by embracing the spirit of their recommendations, but
providing little substance. While the Administration has been
encouraged to increase funding to implement these recommendations,
significant decreases for the next fiscal year are expected.
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Not
authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters
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