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June 11, 2003 I believe that the environment is one of the most important things in our entire world. We could not live in any way without it, or even breathe. Unfortunately, the environment is hurting and hurting and hurting. Here are the plain facts about what the Democrats do to help the environment against the Republicans. I have made this a nice little game between Clinton and Bush. Let's see the facts. Clinton: http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments * Won $652 million for Lands Legacy in the FY 2000 budget, a 42 percent increase. * Balanced the preservation of old-growth stands with the economic needs of timber-dependent communities through the Pacific Northwest Forest Plan. * Created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, protecting 1.7 million acres of spectacular red rock canyonlands, artifacts from three ancient cultures, and the most remote site in the lower 48 states. * Designated the new Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in Arizona to protect just over 1 million acres of deep canyons, mountains, and buttes on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. * Created the California Coastal National Monument encompassing thousands of federally owned islands, rocks, and reefs off the California Coast providing critical feeding and nesting grounds for seabirds. * Expanded California?s Pinnacles National Monument, created by President Roosevelt in 1908, to preserve the monument?s unique geologic resources. * Reached an historic agreement to halt the massive New World mine three miles outside Yellowstone National Park, protecting the area from toxic runoff and other threats. * Secured nearly $1.2 billion for Everglades restoration over the past five years. Added nearly 70,000 acres to Everglades National Park. * Created Death Valley National Park, the largest park in the lower 48 states, and Mojave Desert National Preserve in the California Desert. Blocked attempts in Congress to close some national parks and expand road building in others. * Turned back attempts by Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. * Adopted a uniform tailpipe standard to passenger cars, SUVs and other light-duty trucks, producing cars that are 77 percent cleaner -- and light-duty trucks up to 95 percent cleaner -- than those on the road today. * Established EPA?s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) that provides grants to States to finance priority drinking water projects that meet Clean Water Act mandates. * Expanded Safe Drinking Water Act protections to protect 40 million additional Americans in small communities from potentially dangerous microbes? * Signed an Executive Order to reduce environmental health and safety risks to children. * Added 57,000 acres, including lands along the last free- flowing section of the Columbia River, to the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge to protect salmon habitat in Washington. * Issued an Executive Order to expand protection of coral reefs and their ecosystems to address issues of coral reef management, expansion of marine protected areas and increased protections for coral reef species. * Won $8.2 billion in FY 2000, a 10 percent increase, for public transit and other programs that reduce air pollution while easing traffic congestion. And that is just a few of what the site had to say about Clinton and what he did to help the environment. I'd say he did quite a bit. Those are the facts, the simple facts. Let's see about Bush. Bush: http://democrats.org/news/200305210002.html * President Bush broke a campaign promise that he would reduce carbon dioxide emissions -- a leading cause of global warming. * Blocked the EPA from releasing a report that would warn millions of Americans about asbestos in their homes and dismissed an EPA report that cited the dangers of global warming. * Weakened the Clean Air Act, allowing power plants to increase the amount of pollution they put into the air. * Endangered our water by allowing mining companies to pollute streams with impunity. * Cut the EPA budget for 2004 by $500 million, gutting the agency's ability to enforce environmental laws effectively. * Declared open season on the nation's parks, monuments, and forests, opening them to drilling, road building, and other potentially damaging activities. * Weakened protections for endangered species and made it more difficult to put new species on the endangered list. As you can imagine, those are only a few as well. To even dig further, imagine how fed up the EPA would be of President Bush. Quite a bit. Early 2002, Eric Schaeffer resigned as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Civil Enforcement. He had worked there for 12 years. Schaeffer said: "I left because I got tired and frustrated trying to enforce laws at the same time that the energy lobbyists working with the White House and their friends in the Energy Department seemed determined to try to weaken them." He also said that the current is law is better at helping and protecting the government than what Bush and his administration proposes. Even further, believe it or not, the EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced she is to resign June 2003. She was often overruled by Bush on many decisions that were key to the environment. Well, guess who wins? I would say the Democrats are sure doing well. The facts are clear, simple, and straight. Clinton supported and helped the environment. Bush is doing nothing of the sort. I sure hope we can turn this around before we have no environment left. Environment: Democrats win. ------------ About the author: Matthew Stensrud is a high school student who loves politics and life. He has retained a 4.0 GPA throughout his high school career and is currently involved with the Young Democrats at his school. He is also an eCaptain for the Democratic National Committee. Other than politics, Matthew also loves music and plays the piano, organ, and handbells, and also sings in three choirs. Visit his website or email Matthew Stensrud: maths8877@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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