Democrats Take Bush to Task Over Environment
" Bush ignored a 1999 National Academy of Sciences report concluding that the old arsenic standard is no longer adequate for public health protection.
Sunday April 1 7:35 AM ET
By JoAnne Allen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats fired another volley in a battle with the White House over environmental rules, accusing President Bush of leading ``an assault'' on the environment in a bow to special interests.
In the Democrat's weekly radio address, Washington Gov. Gary Locke said U.S. environmental protection rules are coming under attack ``and the person leading that charge is none other than President Bush.''
``In his barely two months in office, President Bush has led an assault on the environment, the likes of which our country has not seen in decades,'' Locke said Saturday.
Locke accused Bush a sacrificing the environment ``at the altar'' of special interests groups. Congressional Democrats and environmental activists contend the White House has been too eager to ease environmental rules that could be costly for mining, oil, timber and other industries.
Democratic lawmakers this week launched a counter-offensive to White House decisions to suspend tight new standards for arsenic in drinking water and curb mining waste.
The president also reversed a campaign promise to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants -- viewed by many scientists as a major cause of global warming. He also rejected an international treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
``In an already long list of actions that will harm environmental quality, one of the most egregious was his recent announcement that he would roll back regulations that limit the amounts of arsenic in our drinking water,'' Locke said in the radio address.
He said Bush ignored a 1999 National Academy of Sciences report concluding that the old arsenic standard is no longer adequate for public health protection.
``So why did George Bush cut back on protections against arsenic in our drinking water? Is he pro-arsenic? Of course not. The problem is that special interests, and not George Bush, seem to be controlling America's environmental safety programs,'' Lock said.
``It is the wealthy donors and the special interests that helped put him in the White House who want to loosen environmental controls,'' Locke said.
``We urge the president in the strongest terms to protect our environment, and to shift his priorities away from the special interests and back to the people he swore to protect,'' Locke concluded.
The Washington Post on Saturday said the Bush administration had been stung by the furious reaction to its decisions on the environment. The paper said Bush aides have held meetings in recent days to plot strategy to polish the president's environmental credentials.
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