An airborn poison attack by terrorists is one of the more serious threats:
Bush Puts Power Plants Ahead of Public Health By Weakening Power Plant Pollution Protections
Administration Risks Worsening Childhood Asthma, Respiratory Diseases, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
by U. S. Senator John Kerry
Thursday, June 13, 2002
Washington, D.C. -- "By weakening protections against air pollution, the Bush Administration today continued a shameful policy of offering platitudes about public health while pulling the rug out from under common sense protections that guarantee clean air and water. This is terrible news for families in the Northeast too often victimized by cross state air pollution. Each year, about 30,000 people in the USA have been dying prematurely due to pollution emitted by coal-fired power plants. The Administration's announcement risks more childhood asthma and respiratory disease, and poses a major threat to many states' serious efforts to combat air pollution.
The Bush administration is also initiating an energy production program that will increase air pollution and end up making global warming much worse. When asked if the President believed that Americans needed to change their lifestyles to reduce energy consumption, the White House press secretary said: "That's a big NO. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one."
I'm shocked that just days after grudgingly acknowledging that global warming is a major environmental crisis, the Bush administration strips away clean air protections to shield Americans from power plant pollution. The Administration's own scientists have concluded that two-thirds of Americans have an increased risk of cancer from toxic pollutants, including mercury emissions from power plants — but when push comes to shove, this Administration takes the side of polluters over the public health of millions of American families.
We can do better than this -- there are better choices we can make for our country's health and our environment -- and I believe Americans want pro-business, pro-environment policies that create good jobs not pollution. It's up to principled leaders to put a better set of choices on the table." |
