[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S4288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S ENVIRONMENTAL ROLLBACKS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today is supposed to be a day to mark the 
importance of protecting the environment. And thankfully, many people 
are. But though we are all marking the day, the only people celebrating 
are industry CEOs and lobbyists.
  The Bush administration's laser-like focus on rolling back our 
environmental and public health protections is breathtaking, literally. 
The rollbacks are dirtying our air and destroying the health of the 
planet.
  Instead of packing the agencies responsible for the environment with 
environmental stewards as you would expect, the administration has 
focused on creating a public relations firm under the guise of the 
Environmental Protection Agency.
  It's been a busy PR firm: announcing environmental rollbacks on 
Fridays or around holidays when they think the American public is not 
paying attention, assigning green names to destructive policies, 
scrubbing regulatory actions to downplay public health risks to meet 
their political needs and flat out ignoring scientific facts are just a 
few of their favorite marketing tools.
  But for all their public relations maneuvering, the public recognizes 
the enormous and long-term effect of these policies on our environment 
and our health. This PR campaign is being led by the very people the 
administration is supposed to be policing: industry representatives 
often at the heart of the most egregious environmental neglect. The 
administration's lates rollback has the fingerprints of lobbyists all 
over it, the Bush retreat from strong mercury controls at coal-fired 
power plants.
  Unfortunately, the ``swoosh'' from the revolving door between 
industry lobby shops and the Bush administration has now spilled over 
to the Federal bench. The Bush administration recognizes that the 
courts have become the final backstop against their environmental 
rollbacks, blocking Bush attempts to gut the Clean Air Act, Clean Water 
Act and protection of our national monuments.
  The courts have ruled against Bush arguments to weaken the National 
Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act 80 percent of 
the time. The Bush solution, give anti-environmental, unqualified 
industry lobbyists lifetime judicial appointments.
  The debate over William Myers, a former cattle and mining industry 
lobbyist, may be one of the most important environmental debates we 
have this year. Unlike the Bush industry appointees to Federal 
agencies, Mr. Myers' effect on environment and public lands would 
survive long past this Presidency. As I have said many times, the 
environment is not a partisan issue but this administration has made it 
clear that industry interests trump the public interest.

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