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Clark On Bush’s Latest Special Interest Giveaway
Little Rock – On Tuesday, the Bush Administration finalized the opening of 300,000 acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest for logging and other development. Now the timber industry will be able to clearcut trees in one of the most ancient forests in the world.
Wes Clark had a strong message for the Bush White House:
“As Americans gathered to celebrate the traditions of the holiday season, the Bush Administration practiced its own tradition – rolling back environmental protections when most Americans weren’t looking.
It’s wrong to announce gifts to your special interest supporters under cover of Christmas. American needs leadership that puts the people’s interests above the special interests. That’s the kind of leadership I’ll bring back to White House.”
“I promise you as president of the United States, we’ll put America back to work and we will produce – we won’t just service, we will produce- and we’ll make the finest products in the world in everything from energy technology, to environmental technology, to new automobiles, to battery chips, generators, software, hardware, jet planes and whatever else there is, and we’ll be proud to see on our products, Made in the USA.”
Source: C-Span video; Nashua Pancake Breakfast, 12/20/03
Something Is Fishy About Bush’s Environmental Posturing
Little Rock – The Bush Administration just announced that it will roll back Clinton Era controls on mercury pollution and will give power plants up to 15 years to meet the weakened standards. This announcement comes just one week after the FDA and the EPA warned pregnant women and children against consuming tuna because of high mercury levels, which can cause birth defects and brain damage in children.
“American families can’t wait until 2018 for protection against hazardous pollutants like mercury,” Wes Clark insisted. “Bush warned moms and kids not to eat tuna because of elevated mercury levels. But then he dilutes pollution protections, allowing more mercury to be spewed into the air moms and kids breathe. Sounds pretty fishy to me.”
Wes Clark’s Clean Air Plan will reduce air pollution, and prevent more than 100,000 premature deaths through the year 2020, by toughening pollution standards and putting the environmental cop back on the beat.
We need an Iraq that stays together. We need something like some kind of a representative government. We need an Iraq that’s strong enough to protect itself from Al Qaida, but not so strong that it threatens its neighbors. And by doing this, we’ll still have access to buy oil on the international market. I’m one of those people who don’t believe in occupying countries to extract their natural resources. I think you buy them on the world market.
Source: Democratic 2004 Primary Presidential Debate in Durham NH Dec 9, 2003
“We must recapture the lead from foreign competitors on the environmental technologies that American scientists and businesses pioneered. It’s good for our environment and good for business.
Spurring energy efficiency and capturing waste energy will enhance America’s competitiveness. The fastest growing energy industries in the world are wind and solar, but much of that growth is benefiting Japanese and European companies. American companies should dominate the next generation of the energy industry. If European and Japanese companies can reduce emissions and increase profitability, American companies can do it too. “
Source: Speech, New Hampshire, December 9, 2003
“We’ve got mercury in our air, mercury in our water, and mercury in our food – and too many Americans, especially children and pregnant women, are at risk. This is just another example of how this Administration is committed to dismantling environmental protections, one regulation at a time. Giving power plants free reign to pollute our country and poison our citizens doesn’t protect our environment – it protects our special interests.”
Source: Clark 04 Press Release, 12/3/03; “General Clark Chastises President Bush for Working to Reverse Mercury Pollution Regulations”
