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"Corporate America poured a ton of money into Bush's coffers. Now it's payback time inside the Beltway." --Newsweek Magazine
That's an understatement. The air we breathe, the water we drink and our precious natural resources that all should be protected are under siege in the early weeks of the Bush administration.
The President's shameless flip-flop on carbon dioxide emissions is disgraceful, naked politics that would make Bill Clinton blush, if he were capable of blushing.
Much was made of Bush the Elder's foolish pledge, "Read my lips--no new taxes."
That reversal hurt him politically, but actually helped the nation begin recovering from the spend-and-borrow cycle and staggering deficits Reaganomics--what old George used to call "voodoo economics"--brought to the U.S. economy.
But the younger Bush broke a promise that will harm the health of millions of Americans, especially the young, while at the same time line the pockets of the dirty industries now getting the best president corporate greed can buy. That's sick and an ominous signal that any optimistic hope George W. would look out for the public's interest over private gain, sadly, is unfounded.
Most scientists, with the exception of some right-wing wackos, paid big bucks by the coal and utilities industries, will stand for this truism: the more carbon dioxide in our air, the fouler it is, the more people will suffer lung diseases, and global warming--the very real greenhouse effect--will continue to grow and further threaten our entire ecosystem.
That's serious stuff, and George W., in a speech last September, showed a keen understanding of the problem and made an unequivocal pledge to do something about it.
Candidate Bush said he would force power plants to reduce not only carbon dioxide emissions, but other plant warming pollutants--sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury. Bush sounded like a born-again environmentalist, but we've since learned that all we heard was noise.
Bush is real cozy with the utilities industry, and those fat cats bet on a good thing. They must have known that his vow to protect the environment and make the world better for poor children was totally disingenuous.
First, the bucks. Thomas Kuhn heads up the Edison Institute, the big lobbyist for the electric utilities industry. He also happens to be an old Yale classmate of George W's and an early and vigorous fund-raiser. In fact, by Election Day, electric utilities generated $12.4 million in campaign juice for Bush and favored GOP candidates.
A week before Bush broke his bold campaign promise to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Environmental Protection Agency boss Christie Todd Whitman said it was "very clear that the science is very good on global warming ... there is a real problem."
The Washington Post even dug up a memo Whitman sent to Bush saying, "I would strongly recommend that you continue to recognize global warming is a real and serious issue."
Bush then left Whitman hanging for a day or so, and when the coal and utilities industries got the final words of influence with the White House, the President cut her legs out from under her, left her seriously embarrassed, and did perhaps terminal damage to Whitman's credibility.
When the facts of science don't prevail, when the environment and public health are sacrificed and the person who heads the EPA apparently is the last to learn about the flip-flop, you know political juice is flowing.
Anyone who can't see this is the same type who believes Denise Rich's big contributions to the Clintons and the Democrats had nothing to do with ex-hubby Marc's pardon.
Working through The United Nations and under the principles of the Kyoto accords, the nations of the world are trying to come to grips with global warming. Our allies in Europe are appalled at the Bush administration's crass politics on global warming. And how can we--the richest and most powerful industrial nation on earth--expect other poorer nations to take carbon dioxide seriously when we duck the issue, in order to take care of greedy campaign contributors, and cloak it as protecting our economic interests.
Bush unilaterally nixed any further consideration of Kyoto, which required the United States to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 5 percent by 2012. That's a reasonable goal when you consider the United States, with 4 percent of the world's population, accounts for 25 percent of the Co2 spewed into the atmosphere.
In a cavalier instant, Bush unleashed the fury of our European friends who take global warming seriously and actually are doing something about it. He made it clear he was far more committed to perceived short-term economic gains that benefit big campaign contributors than to the health of people around the world and the global environment.
In another assault on science and public health, Bush turned his back on a plan to reduce acceptable levels of arsenic in water, thrilling his backers from the mining industry.
Arsenic occurs naturally and infiltrates well- and ground-water drinking supplies, mostly in the western states. But it also migrates from hard-rock mining operations, and that's what drove the Bush decision.
Arsenic in water is a killer. It causes bladder and lung cancer, liver and kidney damage, and an array of other maladies that are well documented. The World Health Organization is urging all nations to adopt a permissible arsenic level of 10 parts per billion, replacing the present 50 parts per billion.
Bush questions the consensus of science on what should be allowed. Michael Harbut, an expert on environmental health says, "The only lack of consensus comes from the people who own copper mines." Harbut finds appalling Bush's move, one that will directly result in more illness and death.
Are they really turning the government over to the polluters, the good doctor asks, knowing the answer.
Bush, with the zeal Atilla the Hun showed when he was eyeing Rome, has his sights set on the Alaskan National Arctic Wildlife Refuge. The President is championing the interests of his oil cronies and big-buck pals, who want to start oil exploration in the pristine wilderness now.
Bush has his energy secretary Spencer Abraham out on the hustings with the ominous message of the terrible "energy crisis" we face. That's rubbish--and remember Abraham's singular credential for the job he has is that he needed a job. He's a career politician, a former Dan Quayle aide with an inside-the-beltway mortgage, and who lost his U.S. Senate seat in Michigan last November.
While Abraham speaks of the "energy crisis" and the need for a national energy policy, recall that when in the U.S. Senate, he called for the elimination of the department he now heads. Enough on Abraham's credibility.
The truth is, rather than directing our attention to energy conservation and pollution control, Bush is calling for an all-out raid on the bonanza of oil and gas the Arctic holds. The short-term and short-sighted exploitation of the Arctic will do little to meet our energy needs, and threaten precious wilderness while making oil companies richer at the expense of the public.
If we were able to improve automobile fuel efficiency by 1 mile per gallon of gas, that would do more for our energy needs than a world of Arctic refuges. But then Bush's pals wouldn't make as much money.
The television ad campaign urging the Arctic raid notes that 75 percent of Alaskans are in favor of the drilling. So what! That's like saying 75 percent of the residents of Rivershore Drive support a McDonald's on Goat Island.
The Alaskan Wilderness belongs to us all, and those who live nearby have no more stake in it than any other American.
The early Bush record is nothing less than a declaration of war on the environment and public health. The compassionate conservative is conserving nothing of value, and is showing greater compassion for powerful polluters than for the people he was selected to serve.