[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[April 22, 2005]
[Pages 655-657]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks on Earth Day in Knoxville, Tennessee
April 22, 2005
It's great to be back in the State of Tennessee--I'm sorry we're not
at the Great Smoky National Park. Senator Lamar Alexander has been urging me to come to the park and see the
great beauty of a part of the world where he was raised. I'm proud to be
traveling with Senator Bill Frist, the great
majority leader of the United States Senate from the State of Tennessee,
and Lamar Alexander. The thing about old Lamar is he's constantly
reminding me that without Tennessee, Texas wouldn't be much. [Laughter]
I appreciate traveling with Congressman Jimmy Duncan, the Congressman from this district. I remember all
too well going to the Duncan family picnic that he gave. Evidently, he's
got a pretty good-sized family, since there was about 15,000 people
there. [Laughter] I'm proud to be with Bill Jenkins, from east Tennessee, and Zach Wamp, Congressman
Wamp. We had a good visit on the airplane,
talking about issues that are important to Tennessee and our country.
It's an honor to work with these fine leaders as we work to protect our
country and secure our country and enhance the prosperity of our
country.
I'm traveling as well with the Secretary of the Interior,
Gale Norton--one of her jobs is to oversee
the national parks of our country--as well as Acting Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, Steve Johnson. I picked Steve to head the EPA. I did so because, like me
and like the folks serving in Congress here, we care about our
environment. He also comes from the ranks of the EPA. He knows the
Agency. He knows how to work with local folks to get things done. And I
urge the Senate to confirm him as quickly as possible.
Before I begin, it was an honor to meet Pat Summitt, basketball coach of the Lady Vols. I told
her I was heading down to Crawford, which is right next door to Baylor.
And she said, ``Well, make sure you say hello to one of my pupils,'' a
person she coached, Kim Mulkey-Roberts.
So I'm going to do that. If you're watching TV, Kim, Pat sends her best.
What an honorable woman Pat Summitt is, and what a great role model she
is for those of us who aspire to leadership.
In the park, had I been there, I would have reminded people today is
Earth Day, a day in which we recommit ourselves to being good stewards
of our land. We didn't create this Earth, but we have an obligation to
protect it. One of the interesting things about our Nation is that since
1970, the air is cleaner, and the water is more pure, and we're using
our land better, and our economy has grown a lot. My point is, it's
possible to have economic growth and jobs and opportunity and, at the
same time, be wise stewards of the land.
I remember traveling with Lamar down
here one time, and he said, ``I want you to understand, and I want you
to pay attention to the ozone levels in the Smokies.'' And so I did a
little research, and I'm proud to report, since 2000, the ozone levels
have dropped. But there is more to be done to make sure the Smoky
Mountains and the Smoky Mountain National Park is as beautiful as
possible.
And I want to share with you too, two issues that we have worked
together on that will make a difference not only to the folks here in
Tennessee but around the country. First, we have finalized a rule that
will cut pollution from heavy diesel engines by 90 percent. We worked
with the manufacturers of those engines, and we've come up with a way to
reduce pollution from diesel engines, and that's going to help a lot.
And secondly, I put forth a rule--a series of rules called the Clear
Skies Initiative, which will cut air pollution from coal-fired
[[Page 656]]
powerplants by 70 percent. This is a commonsense approach to dealing
with this important issue. We use a market-based system, a cap and trade
system to provide flexibility so that the powerplants can meet the goals
we set of reducing pollution by 70 percent. The initiatives we did
through Executive order are important, but it would sure be helpful if
Congress passed the Clear Skies legislation as well.
The water quality of the United States is good because we're
strictly enforcing the law. Ninety percent of the United States have
water that meets very stringent health standards. That's up, by the way,
from about 74 percent. And we'll continue to work hard to make sure
everybody has got good water.
One of the initiatives I announced on Earth Day last year was to
restore, improve, and protect 3 million acres of wetlands over a 5-year
period of time. The policy used to be no net loss. I thought we needed
to be more aggressive on wetlands. And so the new goal is to restore,
improve, or protect 3 million acres of land. This year we enhanced
830,000 acres, so we're on our way to meeting that goal, and that's good
for the country.
The farm bill is working, and I appreciate the Members behind me who
understand the importance of the Conservation Reserve Program, which
helps our ranchers and farmers restore grasslands and build valuable
habitat for wildlife.
I was concerned about forest fires that have decimated a lot of our
national treasures, so I worked with the Congress to pass the Healthy
Forest Restoration Act. I want to thank Senator Frist for working that piece of legislation through the
Senate. Last year, as a result of that bill, we removed hazardous fuels
in forested areas--over 10 million acres. It's really an important piece
of legislation, to be wise about how we conserve our national forests.
We're making good progress when it comes to restoring industrial
sites through the brownfields initiative. We've restored 1,200 abandoned
industrial sites since I've been the President and converted them to
productive use.
One of my concerns back when I first started running for President
was to make sure that our National Park System worked well for all our
citizens. The parks belong to the people, and the parks should be
accessible to the people. A lot of good folks use our parks, but as a
result of not paying close attention to the maintenance backlogs in our
parks, some of the parks weren't meeting the standards that we should
expect. And so I laid out a 5-year initiative to spend $4.9 billion to
end the maintenance backlog of our parks. We'll meet that initiative
when Congress meets my budget request this year. I want to thank Senator
Frist, Senator Alexander, and the Members of the Congress for supporting this
important park initiative.
We spent $20 million last year in the Smokies on maintenance
backlog. In other words, we have an obligation to maintain these
valuable assets on behalf of the people, and we're meeting that
obligation. Secretary Gale Norton and Fran
Mainella, who runs our park system, are
doing a fine job of setting clear priorities and explaining to Congress
the nature of those priorities and then restoring these parks back to
where they need to be so people can use them.
I wish I had been there at the park to thank the park rangers who
work so hard to make sure our parks are accessible to our citizens. The
rangers are a fabulous group of people, whether they be here in
Tennessee or around the Nation, and they work hard on behalf of the
citizens of our country. But one of the things that makes our park
system work well is the fact that there are a lot of volunteers all
across America who want to work in the parks. I don't know if you
realize this in this part of the world, but there are 2,000 volunteers
who work in the Smokies. Doesn't surprise me; after all, this is the
Volunteer State.
If you're interested in serving, if conservation interests you, if
you want to be
[[Page 657]]
a part of our national effort to be good stewards of the environment,
you ought to go on to the usafreedomcorps.gov web site. It's a web site
we set up to encourage voluntarism in America. And if you volunteer to
serve in a national park, to restore trails, for example, you'll find a
lot of other good citizens right there with you.
So my message to the good folks of Tennessee on Earth Day is, we
have a duty and an obligation to protect our environment. We're meeting
that obligation, but that obligation is not just a Federal obligation.
There is a State obligation, a local obligation, and each of us as
citizens can do our part as well.
I appreciate you all coming out. I'm honored to be traveling with
some fine members of the congressional delegation from Tennessee. May
God continue to bless the good folks of Tennessee and our country. Thank
you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 12:55 p.m. at the McGhee Tyson Air National
Guard Base. In his remarks, he referred to Pat Summitt, head coach,
University of Tennessee's women's basketball team; and Kim Mulkey-
Robertson, head coach, Baylor University's women's basketball team.