Environment Ignored in New Democratic Agenda: Liberty Belle Log

[Liberty Belle]

EDITORIAL:
ENVIRONMENT IGNORED IN NEW DEMOCRATIC AGENDA

By Miriam Raftery, Editor
Liberty Belle Log

I applaud the ambitious Democratic agenda laid out this week by Senator Harry Reid, complete with ten new bills to promote real American values. But the agenda has one gaping hole: the environment.

Pandering to corporate interests at the expense of public health, the Bush administration has amassed the worst environmental record of any president. Bush and his cronies in Congress have effectively dismantled our nation’s framework of environmental laws, standards and enforcement. (For details, see Environment2004’s report, “The Bush Environmental Record: An Unprecedented Assault on our Health and Heritage.” (http://www.environment2004.org/documents.php)

Under pressure from corporate polluters, Bush let the Superfund tax for cleaning up toxic waste dumps expire, causing the fund to dwindle while millions of Americans continue living near contaminated sites. Further, the President now wants to exempt the military entirely from cleaning up its toxic wastes. Never mind that percholate, a harmful chemical found in rocket fuel used by the military, has been discovered in drinking water in 20% of American states.

Medical experts I’ve interviewed recently express alarm that mercury poisoning is reaching epidemic proportions in America—due largely to increased pollution of our public waterways and oceans. Rates of environmentally-induced cancers have also risen sharply.

The President’s “Clear Skies” initiative is a misnomer, since it results in increased fouling of our air. Is it any wonder that asthma rates are up over 70% nationwide in recent years?

We are also seeing many serious respiratory conditions developing among New York residents and rescue workers. Many could have been avoided if the EPA had issued warnings. Instead, EPA administrator Christine Whitman falsely assured the public that the air was safe.

Because of this cover-up, New Yorkers and visitors to the 9/11 site were exposed to over 400,000 pounds of lead, 200,000 pounds of asbestos, radioactive americium, and enough mercury to contaminate 2,500 city blocks! Half of all workers who cleared Ground Zero now have serious respiratory problems, along with many firefighters and children from nearby schools. (http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/jimmy_walter_battles_bush_admin.htm )

Moreover, the administration has opened up National Parks for snowmobilers, threatening protected wildlife and parklands. It has allowed the destruction of wild horses, and approved hunting of buffalo right outside Yellowstone National Park’s borders. Next up, the White House wants to weaken the Endangered Species Act and open fragile arctic wilderness areas for oil drilling, further threatening America’s wildlife.

Worst of all, President Bush refuses to admit that global warming exists. He ignores the broad consensus of global scientists who warn that ominous signs of global warming are already occurring, including rapid melting of glaciers in Alaska and the breaking up of state-sized blocks of ice in Antaractica.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/science/earth/25ice.html?pagewanted=1) Increasingly violent hurricanes, drought, and Western wildfires may all be attributable to increased global temperatures. Britain’s chief scientist gravely warns that global warming poses a greater threat to our security than global terrorism.

In a January 24, 2005 n article titled “Report: Global warming approaching critical point,” Associated Press reveals that “global warming is approaching the critical point of no return, after which widespread drought, crop failure, and rising sea levels would be irreversible,” according to a report titled “Meeting the Climate Challenge.” The independent report was prepared by the Institute for Public Policy Research in Britain, the Center for American Progress in the United States, and The Australia Institute.

The report urges leading industrial nations to cut carbon emissions, double their research spending on green technology and work with India and China to build on the Kyoto Protocol. Bush has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, choosing to protect short-term profits for industry over long-term protection of our planet. http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/01/24/climate.change.ap/

Democrats who kowtow to the corporate-backed Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) by ignoring these serious environmental concerns are doing their constitutents, our Party, and our planet a grave disservice. Surely protecting the health of our families and our planet should be a greater priority than preserving corporate donations for politicians!

Please join me in contacting Senator Reid (D-Nevada), along with your own Senators and Congressional members, and ask them to add these important environmental issues into the Democratic Agenda. We need our leaders to sponsor bills to correct the serious deterioration of our environment. Our futures—and our lives—are at stake!