Lieberman Rips Bush on Environment
Politics: The Democratic senator, in a California visit, criticizes the president's
policies on Alaska oil drilling and clean air.
Los Angeles Times
February 21, 2002
THE NATION
By RONALD BROWNSTEIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- On a campaign-style swing through California,
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) on Wednesday denounced
President Bush's environmental record and pledged new legislative
efforts to block the administration's proposals on global warming and
energy production.
"While President Bush has provided strong and principled leadership in
the war against terrorism, I think he's been AWOL in the war against
environmental pollution," Lieberman told the California League of
Conservation Voters in a lunchtime address here.
The speech was
one of the most
stinging Democratic
assaults on any
aspect of Bush's
domestic record
since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, which
pushed such disagreements to the sidelines.
Lieberman's talk was spiked with barbed
language, and he repeatedly charged that Bush
is pursuing a backward-looking agenda on a
series of environmental issues.
Lieberman visited California as part of a
four-state, four-day Western swing; he also will
stop in Colorado, Washington and Oregon.
Officially, he is traveling to campaign for other Democratic House and Senate candidates and to
raise funds for a new political action committee he has established. But Lieberman, Al Gore's
running mate in 2000, acknowledged that he is "thinking about" a bid for the top spot on his party's
presidential ticket in 2004.
Lieberman arrived in California just days after Sens. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, John Edwards
of North Carolina and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts--three other potential contenders for the
Democratic presidential nod--addressed the party's state convention in Los Angeles.
Gore also has heightened his public profile of late, keeping alive prospects that he will again seek the
White House. Lieberman has said he will not run if Gore does.
Jockeying to Attract Environmentalists
Environmentalists are an important constituency in some Democratic presidential primaries, among
them California.
Kerry has already been courting them aggressively, promising to filibuster any effort to open the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling in the energy legislation the Senate is due to consider
next week.
On Wednesday, Lieberman said he also would filibuster the administration's push to drill in the
refuge, adding that he would do so "until the caribou come home . . . or Vice President [Dick]
Cheney releases the energy task force records, whichever comes later."
Congress' investigative arm, the General Accounting Office, has threatened to sue to obtain the
records of the task force, which Cheney presided over as the administration formulated its energy
initiatives.
In his speech, Lieberman announced that the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which he
chairs, will convene hearings next month on the administration's environmental record.
"In its first year, the Bush administration has undercut environmental protections and undermined . . .
[a] growing spirit of environmental innovation and collaboration," he charged.
'Breathing the Air Isn't Optional'
Lieberman focused most of his rhetorical fire on two aspects of the administration's environmental
agenda: the proposal Bush recently announced to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, and the
production-oriented energy plan that has cleared the House but faces substantial Democratic
resistance in the Senate.
Lieberman derided as "feeble" Bush's call for voluntary reductions in carbon dioxide, which has
been linked to global warming. "Breathing the air isn't optional, and therefore reducing the
greenhouse gases in it shouldn't be either," he said.
A spokesman for Bush dismissed Lieberman's comments as "election year rhetoric."
"Economic growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand," said the spokesman, Scott
McClellan. "That's why [Bush] has outlined an innovative approach to protect the public health,
clean our skies and promote environmentally responsible growth."
McClellan contended that the "clear skies" proposal Bush unveiled last week would lead to the
"most significant reduction in power plant emissions ever."
Of Lieberman's plan to launch a committee inquiry into the administration's environmental policy,
McClellan said: "That's his prerogative."
Lieberman said he was preparing an alternative environmental plan with Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.), lately a frequent collaborator with Democrats. Their legislative proposal would require
mandatory carbon dioxide reductions but would allow firms that exceed the targets to trade
"credits" with firms that don't meet the goals.
The United States has used a similar system to reduce pollution associated with acid rain, and
Lieberman argued that the approach would encourage firms to find innovative solutions by allowing
them to profit from controlling their greenhouse gas emissions.
On energy, Lieberman echoed the common Democratic argument that Bush's plan was weighted
too heavily toward new oil production and slighted both conservation and the development of
renewable energy sources.
Lieberman's environmental credentials were reinforced Wednesday when the League of
Conservation Voters ranked him as one of 15 senators--all Democrats--with a 100% score on
votes of interest to the group last year.
latimes.com * |
