Since taking office, the Bush administration has done much to please corporate interests and almost nothing to grapple with the environmental problems facing most Americans. The administration is allowing coal, oil, timber, mining, and other industries to weaken an unprecedented number of safeguards for clean air, clean water, and public lands. Consider the following:
* Despite the clearly documented health and environmental threats posed by coal-fired power plants - such as increased asthma attacks, mercury pollution, global warming pollution, and 30,000 premature deaths every year - the administration is proposing to weaken, not strengthen, clean air standards known as New Source Review.
* The Superfund program has been instrumental in cleaning up the worst toxic waste sites around the country. The Bush administration has slowed down the pace of cleanups at Superfund sites by more than 50%. Innocent taxpayers are bearing additional costs of the clean ups, while polluters enjoy a $4 million a day tax holiday. While taxpayers are paying more, the funds collected from taxes levied on polluting activities to pay for cleanups dwindles. Superfund had $3.8 billion in surplus in 1995, the last year that the government collected the polluter pays taxes. In 2003, the Bush administration estimates the surplus will shrink to just $28 million.
* The Bush administration is also actively working to weaken protections for public lands. They have failed to implement the widely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule to protect our last wild forests from most logging and road-building. They have also pushed to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other wild places.
If we're going to stop the administration from letting special interests spoil our environment, we need to take action. Ask your members of Congress to step up their opposition to the Bush administration's environmental agenda -- and to support stronger congressional action to clean up dirty power plants, clean up toxic waste dumps, and preserve our national forests.
Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail your members of Congress.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=10&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Mark Ferrulo
Florida PIRG Director
http://www.FloridaPIRG.org
Environment in jeopardy
A
Andrea
(view)
Since taking office, the Bush administration has done much to please corporate interests and almost nothing to grapple with the environmental problems facing most Americans. The administration is allowing coal, oil, timber, mining, and other industries to weaken an unprecedented number of safeguards for clean air, clean water, and public lands. Consider the following:
* Despite the clearly documented health and environmental threats posed by coal-fired power plants - such as increased asthma attacks, mercury pollution, global warming pollution, and 30,000 premature deaths every year - the administration is proposing to weaken, not strengthen, clean air standards known as New Source Review.
* The Superfund program has been instrumental in cleaning up the worst toxic waste sites around the country. The Bush administration has slowed down the pace of cleanups at Superfund sites by more than 50%. Innocent taxpayers are bearing additional costs of the clean ups, while polluters enjoy a $4 million a day tax holiday. While taxpayers are paying more, the funds collected from taxes levied on polluting activities to pay for cleanups dwindles. Superfund had $3.8 billion in surplus in 1995, the last year that the government collected the polluter pays taxes. In 2003, the Bush administration estimates the surplus will shrink to just $28 million.
* The Bush administration is also actively working to weaken protections for public lands. They have failed to implement the widely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule to protect our last wild forests from most logging and road-building. They have also pushed to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other wild places.
If we're going to stop the administration from letting special interests spoil our environment, we need to take action. Ask your members of Congress to step up their opposition to the Bush administration's environmental agenda -- and to support stronger congressional action to clean up dirty power plants, clean up toxic waste dumps, and preserve our national forests.
Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail your members of Congress.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=10&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Mark Ferrulo
Florida PIRG Director
http://www.FloridaPIRG.org
* Despite the clearly documented health and environmental threats posed by coal-fired power plants - such as increased asthma attacks, mercury pollution, global warming pollution, and 30,000 premature deaths every year - the administration is proposing to weaken, not strengthen, clean air standards known as New Source Review.
* The Superfund program has been instrumental in cleaning up the worst toxic waste sites around the country. The Bush administration has slowed down the pace of cleanups at Superfund sites by more than 50%. Innocent taxpayers are bearing additional costs of the clean ups, while polluters enjoy a $4 million a day tax holiday. While taxpayers are paying more, the funds collected from taxes levied on polluting activities to pay for cleanups dwindles. Superfund had $3.8 billion in surplus in 1995, the last year that the government collected the polluter pays taxes. In 2003, the Bush administration estimates the surplus will shrink to just $28 million.
* The Bush administration is also actively working to weaken protections for public lands. They have failed to implement the widely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule to protect our last wild forests from most logging and road-building. They have also pushed to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other wild places.
If we're going to stop the administration from letting special interests spoil our environment, we need to take action. Ask your members of Congress to step up their opposition to the Bush administration's environmental agenda -- and to support stronger congressional action to clean up dirty power plants, clean up toxic waste dumps, and preserve our national forests.
Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail your members of Congress.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=10&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Mark Ferrulo
Florida PIRG Director
http://www.FloridaPIRG.org
