Protecting our Environment

By Tom Lantos

I have been a strong and consistent voice for protecting our nation's environment - no rollback of environmental laws, no oil drilling off the California coast, protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, assure that we have clean air and clean water, take action to stop global warming, and polluters must pay to clean up Superfund sites.

• No Rollback of Our Environmental Laws and Regulations. I have consistently supported the tough enforcement of our nation's environmental laws and steadfastly opposed the Bush Administration's effort to weaken and undermine our existing environmental laws and regulations and its effort to avoid strict enforcement of existing laws. In consultation with industry special interests, the Administration has undertaken a wide ranging, systematic effort to roll back environmental protections. It has allowed oil and gas interests to draft Executive Orders that weaken regulations designed to protect air, water, and public land. The threat to our quality of life is serious and imminent. The most recent such action came in August 2003 when the Bush Administration - in the words of the Washington Post (August 28, 2003) - "approved a major rollback of clean air enforcement rules for the nation's oldest and dirtiest power plants in a move hailed by industry leaders but bitterly criticized by environmentalists." I was one of the most consistent critics of these Administration environmental rollbacks. Once again the Administration sided with special interests rather than acting to benefit all of the American people. I am appalled that the Administration has taken another step to gut the Clean Air Act, when they should be taking steps to protect the health and quality of life of all the American people!

• No Drilling off the California Coast. Increased drilling for oil off the central California coast is one so-called "solution" that some in the Administration have advocated for dealing with the high U.S. dependence on imported oil. I have consistently and strenuously fought efforts to drill in these environmentally sensitive areas. Our coast is one of our state's great treasures, and we must protect it from cynical short-term exploitation. If we were to pump out all of the oil that may be off the California coast, it would barely make a dent in our national demand for energy, but oil spills could wreck havoc with our state's economy by spoiling our beaches and coastal waters, and undermining our tourism, recreation, and commercial fishing industries.

• No Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Bush Administration has pushed for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) despite the fact that oil from the Arctic refuge would only minimally reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Environmental and oil experts estimate that the Refuge contains a total of only six months of our nation's energy consumption, and if exploitation of oil in the Arctic Refuge began immediately, oil would not be available until ten years from now. At the same time, however, the Arctic Refuge is home to a vast array of wildlife including wolves, grizzly bears, migratory birds and a caribou heard of 140,000 animals. Drilling in ANWR would represent an enormous risk to this important, but fragile area. A study by the National Academy of Sciences recently released findings which detail the destructive and long lasting effects that oil development has already had on Alaska's North Slope. Should development occur in the Arctic Refuge, the impacts on wildlife and this important area would be permanent and devastating. I support a comprehensive, forward-looking approach to energy policy including the use of renewable energy sources and encouraging energy efficiency and conservation.

• Clean Air. I support meeting the commitments made to the American people under the Clean Air Act to reduce pollution from power plants and industry. The increases in childhood asthma, as well as increased disease and early death among older Americans, must be curbed. The Administration has attempted to weaken and undermine the enforcement of clean air standards in order to protect polluting industries, and I continue to fight such efforts.

• Protecting Our Nation's Water Supply. I oppose efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act + which would jeopardize our nation's drinking water, beaches, lakes, rivers, and streams. We must ensure the safety of our drinking water and ensure that our children can swim and fish in our rivers and streams for generations to come.

• Action to Stop Global Warming. In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that "an increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming worldand other changes in the climate system." I believe that global warming is a reality that requires firm and immediate action, not additional study. America must participate in the international effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere in order to address the growing threat of global warming.

• Polluters Must Pay for Superfund Clean-up. I continue to support the Superfund program which has successfully cleaned up toxic waste sites around the country by requiring that the polluting industries take responsibility for paying the clean-up costs. Unfortunately the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Bush Administration have turned back the clock on toxic wastes, halting the fees paid by polluting industries and leaving hundreds of waste sites unremediated. That is wrong. The guiding principle of the Superfund is that polluters pay.