September 24, 1992 PRESIDENT BUSH VS. BILL CLINTON ON THE ENVIRONMENT: SOUND ACCOMPLISHMENTS VS. FAILURES AND RADICALISM President Bush believes that environmental protection and economic development must go hand-in-hand -- sound conservation policies promote both goals while compromising neither. The President has championed flexibility and market incentives to encourage the private sector to adopt sound environmental practices. Clinton's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine reaches new heights of absurdity when he discusses the environment. Governor Clinton ravaged and defiled Arkansas' environment, to the delight of powerful poultry businesses and polluters in Arkansas. But Candidate Clinton now embraces the radical environmental agenda of his running mate, Al Gore, who Clinton promises will play a leading role on environmental policies if elected. The Clinton/Gore radical agenda would punish American business and industry and put birds and bugs ahead of people and communities. Where the President has emphasized market oriented solutions to environmental problems, Clinton/Gore believe in job-costing, inflexible mandates to enforce command and control protection standards. PRESIDENT BUSH'S REAL ACHIEVEMENTS o Market-Oriented Solutions: The Bush Administration has proposed and implemented innovative initiatives that use the power of the marketplace to cut sulphur dioxide, ozone depleting substances, and toxic pollutants. For example, an innovative system of tradable emissions credits in the President's new Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 will cut acid rain-producing sulfur dioxide emissions. The Administration's "Cash-for-Clunkers" plan helps states reduce air pollution in the most cost effective way by encouraging factories and companies to retire older, more polluting cars in order to meet pollution reduction targets. o Private Sector Participation: President Bush has worked to use the private sector to achieve his environmental goals. He formed the President's Commission on Environmental Quality, which develops and pursues an environmental improvement agenda using private sector initiatives that integrate environmental, economic, and quality-of-life goals. The Administration's "33/50" project encourages voluntary industrial reductions of 17 high-priority toxic wastes; to date, over 750 companies and the Departments of Energy and Defense have committed to the program and will cut toxic pollutants by nearly 350 million pounds. o Clean Air: The President proposed, negotiated, and has begun implementation of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the world's most comprehensive, innovative, and market-oriented clean air laws. The Clean Air Act will cut acid rain emissions in half, improve urban air quality, and reduce toxic pollutants by 90 percent. When fully implemented, the new Clean Air Act will reduce air pollutant emissions by 56 billion pounds annually, roughly 224 pounds of pollutants for every man, woman, and child in America. o Public Lands: President Bush has added over 1.5 million acres to our Nation's treasury of parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, and 6.4 million acres to our vast wilderness system. The President has also proposed an ambitious reforestation program to plant one billion trees per year across America. o Global Climate Change: President's National Energy Strategy and other measures will restrain greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing economic growth. The President's interdisciplinary Global Change Research Program, begun in 1989, invests more in climate research -- $2.7 billion in the last three years -- than all other countries combined. President Bush has requested $1.4 billion for 1993. o Protection for Wetlands and Endangered Species: President Bush has more than doubled funding to protect endangered species and for research, protection, and enhancement of America's wetlands. In conjunction with state and private partners, the President has acquired and conserved almost 2 million acres of wetlands since 1989. o Protecting the Ozone Layer: President Bush accelerated the U.S. phaseout of ozone-harming substances to the end of 1995, four years ahead of international deadlines, and called on other nations to match his commitment. o Enforcement: During the Bush Administration, more indictments have been sought; more civil, criminal, and administrative fines have been imposed; and more prison sentences for violators have been secured than in the previous 18 years combined. The Administration has filed landmark suits to protect the Everglades, Chesapeake Bay, and the Great Lakes, and has tripled the rate of toxic waste site cleanups. o Congressional Obstinacy: Congress has consistently blocked, underfunded, or simply refused to act on many of President Bush's environmental initiatives. The Congress has cut funding for reducing U.S.-Mexican border pollution, expanding our national forests, urban and rural tree planting, Superfund, and a Wetlands Reserve. CLINTON'S ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURES IN ARKANSAS o The Record: After twelve years of Bill Clinton, Arkansas is at the bottom of the list when it comes to protecting the environment. Arkansas ranked 48th overall in the Institute for Southern Studies' "Green Index." When asked by Jerry Brown, Clinton could not name a single state statute that exceeded federal protection levels. The Green Index ranks Clinton's administration dead last for the quality of state environmental initiatives. Other Arkansas rankings: -- 50th in miles per gallon of gas consumed; -- 42nd in per capita toxic chemical releases to air; -- 41st in ozone depleting emissions; -- 43rd in per capita spending on air pollution. o Too Chicken to Crack Down on Polluters? Clinton has consistently backed the politically powerful Arkansas poultry industry, accepting free trips from a poultry magnate, giving multi-million dollar tax credits to the state's leading poultry producer, and resisting cleanup of poultry waste. In the wake of twelve years of Bill Clinton, Arkansas ranks 42nd in percentage of polluted rivers and streams, and 47th in per capita toxic chemical releases to surface water. A recent state study reports that 450 miles of streams in Arkansas are "impaired by fecal bacteria." o Ethanol Flip-Flop: On the campaign trail in Iowa, Clinton pledged his support for the use of ethanol. However, in 1985 Clinton removed the motor fuel tax exemption on gasohol, Arkansas' major tax incentive for ethanol. And during his major environmental speech at Drexel University, Clinton made no mention of ethanol as an alternative fuel source. o Wetlands Waffle: As a presidential candidate, Clinton now favors a position that would include millions of acres of farmland in the definition of wetlands. But as governor, Clinton wrote the Bush Administration seeking relaxation of wetlands regulations for Arkansas farmers. And Clinton's Administration allowed continued use of a wetland -- Mossy Lake -- as ground for a nearby paper mill. THE CLINTON/GORE RADICAL AGENDA o Carbon Taxing American Workers: Clinton has implied that he would consider a costly carbon tax, which is strongly endorsed by his running mate Al Gore, as a way of meeting his goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. A carbon tax would mean the loss of 600,000 American jobs by the year 2000, according to the CONSAD Research Corporation. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a carbon tax would cost the U.S. economy $100 billion or more per year. o CAFE Clique: Clinton and Gore are strong supporters of government mandated, drastically higher Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which would lead to the loss of thousands of American jobs. The Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association estimates that Clinton's plan would put the jobs of up to 300,000 autoworkers. o Clinton-Gore: Making Timber Jobs the New Endangered Species: In May, Bill Clinton said that he opposed changing the Endangered Species Act to take into account the impact of a spotted owl recovery plan on timber jobs and communities (AP, 5/14/92). Now, Clinton is waffling. To put the matter off until election day, Clinton is only offering loggers more of what they have already had enough of -- another "meeting." He refuses to stand with the communities and workers in Oregon and Washington that would be devastated by the radical environmentalists' agenda. o However, Al Gore, Clinton's point man on the environment, has made it clear that a Clinton/Gore administration would put birds and bugs over people and communities. Gore opposes logging in possible northern spotted owl habitat in the Pacific Northwest. He doesn't seem to care that this would cost over 30,000 jobs in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, Gore even voted against a study of the economic impact on families and communities (Congressional Record, 10/23/90). o Putting Even Plants Before People: Al Gore even goes so far as to imply that it is wrong to cut down yew trees in order to harvest taxol, one of the most promising drugs in the fight against breast and ovarian cancer in women, (Earth in the Balance, p.119). o Bio-Giveaway: Clinton says he would have signed the seriously flawed biodiversity treaty in Rio, which lacked essential protection for intellectual property rights and would have gutted the growing and vibrant U.S. biotechnology industry. The biodiversity treaty would have allowed developing nations to pirate American breakthroughs in new, potentially life-saving drugs -- diverting hard-earned profits and ideas from American firms. o Selective Science -- Selective Truth: Gore's environmental chauvinism leaves little room for scientific debate. If data disproves his pet theories, he wants little weight given to it if it "undermines the effort to build a solid base of public support" to take the actions he wants. If a well-informed public would undermine his effort, Gore would rather keep America ignorant. # # #