The Bottom Line
motherjones.com
Tons of additional air pollutants permitted to be released by 2020 under Bush's "Clear Skies" plan:
42 million
Estimated number of premature deaths that will result:
100,000
Estimated amount that Clear Skies-related health problems will cost taxpayers, per year:
$115 billion
Days after Bush took office that he reneged on his campaign promise to regulate CO2 emissions from power plants:
53
Days after the U.S. Geological Survey released a 12-year study indicating that drilling in the Arctic Refuge would pose "significant harm to wildlife" that the agency reversed itself:
7
Years that the Bush administration says global warming must be further studied before substantive action can be taken:
5
Number of members of the 63-person energy advisory team Bush convened early in his administration who did not have ties to corporate energy interests:
1
Amount that energy team members gave to Republican candidates in the 2000 election:
$8 million
Percentage of "replacement wetlands" developers are required to create that end up failing, according to the General Accounting Office:
80
Area, in acres, of wetlands, lakes, and streams opened to development under a proposal to end federal oversight of "isolated waters":
20 million
Area, in acres, of Lake Superior:
20.3 million
Estimated acres of public land the administration announced in April it will open to logging, road building, and mining:
220 million
Acreage of California and Texas, combined:
267 million
Number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone National Park this winter, per day:
1,100
Percentage of the 360,000 public comments received by the Park Service that were against repealing the Clinton-era ban on snowmobiles in the park:
80
Percentage of Superfund cleanup costs paid for by corporate polluters in 1996:
82
Percentage that will be paid for by taxpayers under Bush's 2004 budget:
79
Amount at which the EPA historically valued each human life when conducting economic analyses of proposed regulations:
$6.1 million
Amount the EPA considers each person worth as of 2003:
$3.7 million
Average annual number of species added to the Endangered and Threatened Species list between 1991 and 2000:
68.4
Number voluntarily added by the Bush administration since taking office:
0
Grade Bush received on the League of Conservation Voters' 2002 presidential report card:
D-
Grade he received in 2003:
F
Sources: Center for Responsive Politics, Clear the Air, Department of the Interior, Earthjustice, General Accounting Office, League of Conservation Voters, National Park Service, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |
