[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 16 (Monday, April 25, 2005)]
[Pages 657-659]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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

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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 
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.

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    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 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.