Thought you ought might appreciate (not exactly enjoy) a brief overview
of Clinton's record. Why don't I think the League of Conservation Voters
will print this?
-David
41 Anti-Environmental Reasons for Not endorsing Clinton
And DOLE IS WORSE!
Compiled by: David Dilworth 408/624-6500
Consider Ralph Nader
HUMAN HEALTH:
1. Nerve Gas Protected
Clinton moved to stop the phase-out of the Methyl Bromide nerve
gas
(also an ozone layer depleter). This cumulative poison is heavier
than air and drifts downhill to many elementary schools. School
evacuations are common. Children and neighbors are regularly
hospitalized for poisoning. More than 60 Californians have died
from Methyl Bromide poisoning.
2. Supporting weakening of the Safe Drinking Water Act
Remember the 104 dead in Milwaukee from drinking water in 1994?
Clinton supported dilution of regulations on clean water,
allowing increased levels of Lead, Radon, & Arsenic.
3. EPA Enforcement lacking e.g. allowing dioxin dumping in the ocean.
4. EPA's Browner's refusal to stop toxic air pollution 300 feet from an
Ohio School.
5. Storage of nuclear reactor radioactive waste at Lawrence Livermore.
So we're going to have this stuff shipped all 'round the Country
6. Agressive posture supporting international distribution of recombinant
Bovine Growth Hormone
- puts pressure on smaller dairies
- leads to higher rates of infection in dairy cows
- leads to higher use of antibiotics in dairy cows
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SPECIES DESTRUCTION & EXTINCTION:
7. Babbitt's one Year Endangered Species Listings Moratorium
8. Supporting gutting the ESA by allowing agencies charged with enforcement
to develop regulations with groups opposed to regulation (e.g.
miner, enforcement developers, ranchers, etc.)
Regulatory weakening of the ESA - e.g. gnat-catcher proposal
involving "shared habitat" between gnat-catcher & development
*9a. Logging Without Laws "Salvage rider"
- the death warrant for magnificent Ancient Forests.
9b. Not just signing, but reviving the "Dead" Salvage rider.
9c. Excuse of not knowing how bad it would be is pretty lame.
(Rhodes Scholar?)
10. Babbitt refusing to sign the 5 million dollar Spotted Owl Recovery Plan
which would have completely superceded -
11. Option 9 - Where ABSOLUTELY NO FOREST WAS LEFT PROTECTED.
Gridlock in the forests of the Pacific Northwest was better for
the trees than Option 9 has been. We wouldn't have stumps of
400+-year-old firs without Clinton's help.
12. Continuing support, as of Sept 96, for Mt. Graham development which
endangers a squirrel and a forest.
13. Firing BLM Director Jim Baca who intended to reform Grazing.
14. Grazing Deregulation
Recently, Clinton moved to DE-REGULATE public lands grazing.
How come he fought so hard for NAFTA & GATT, and couldn't even
get us a decent return on our public lands concessions?
15. Allowing the Forest Service to try to gut the viability provisions and
re-write the National Forest Management Act regulations without a
committee of Scientists, as required by the NFMA.
16. Allowing the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marines Fisheries
Service to issue a special rule for the Forest Service and BLM
that would have undermined ESA interagency consultation by
allowing default approvals of any of their actions before
meaningful review by USFWS or NMFS could be done.
17. Refusing to support ratifying the Convention on Biodiversity.
Failure to sign biodiversity convention from Rio Summit because of
plank on "genetically manipulated organisms" - a nod to Monsanto &
their "Roundup-ready" soybeans.
18. The current tuna / dolphin protection weakening.
19. Babbitt on the Gulf Coast, where incidental take permits to kill
beach
mice have been liberally dispensed allowing the overbuilding of
our barrier islands/beaches and the almost certain extinction of
the Alabama beach mouse.
20. Firing BLM Director Jim Baca who intended to reform Mining.
______________
INTERNATIONAL:
21. NAFTA - Insuring weakest possible environmental laws worldwide.
The Clinton Administration used its authority under NAFTA to
overturn our 15 year old ban on the production and importation of
PCBs: We now import PCBs from Canada and Mexico, to keep US
hazwaste incinerators profitable!
22. GATT - Insuring weakest possible environmental laws in the Americas.
On 4/29/96 the U.S. lost its *FINAL APPEAL* at GATT's new World
Trade Org. (WTO), of U.S. regulations promulgated under the Clean
Air Act. The U.S. now must choose between two equally unacceptable
options: allow Venezuela to import dirtier gasoline into the
United States, or pay $150 million in trade sanctions for new trade
benefits to Venezuela.
Under GATT's new WTO -- pushed strongly by Clinton -- we must now
PAY POLLUTERS NOT TO POLLUTE! (Rick Crawford)
23. No committment to a Comprehensive (Nuclear) Test Ban Treaty
Lots of lip-service, yes, but the National Ignition Facility and
"Stockpile Stewardship" both auger against the CTBT.
24. French Nuclear Bomb recently set off in Pacific atoll stopped for
refueling in Los Angeles with full knowledge and support of
Clinton administration.
______________
ENERGY & AIR POLLUTION:
25. Cave-in on Fuel Efficiency standards, not pursuing CAFE increases,
and has stalled any meaningful measures to slow the onset of
global climate change.
26. Continued decline in funding for Mass Transit.
27. Dropping proposed federal gas tax.
28. Supported Four cent Gas Tax Repeal.
29. Supported Draining Strategic Petroleum Reserves for Gas Guzzlers.
___________
LAND USE:
30. Administration's refusal to have the Corps of Engineers implement
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The Corps has never been
so determined in its goal of eliminating wetlands as it is
now. (Ross Vincent)
31. Coastal Barriers Resources System. CBRS passed in 1982 and expanded in
1990 denies federal subsidies that encourage development in
currently undeveloped fragile coastal areas. The Clinton Admin had
been strongly opposing a House bill by Republican Tillie Fowler
from FL to exempt retroactively some areas mapped by USFWS some
years ago. Now it seems the real estate industry has gotten to him
-- FL votes crucial to the Election -- and as of today McGinty is
reconsidering and leans towards a reversal.
32. Expanding Bad General 404 Permits - In the 80's, the Corps began
developing and giving out general permits. These are supposed to
be allowed for small fills that have minimal impact. They do not
require developers to get an individual 404 permit and the losses
are not tracked. So according to the Corps, we went from losing
300,000 acres of wetlands per year in 1994 to losing 70 - 90,000
acres in 1996. Are we suddenly saving 200,000 acres each year - NO
- WE JUST GIVE THEM AWAY IN GENERAL PERMITS & DON'T TRACK THE
LOSSES. Over 83% of all permits go through general permits and the
denial rate in 1995 was .5%. It's almost impossible not to get a
permit.
There are now 39 nationwides. The Clinton Administration has
issued 10 and we are unhappy enough with them to sue on one and
potentially sue on another. The suits come after months of working
with EPA & the Corps for improvements, bringing affected citizens
in to show why these nationwides are harmful, and filling the
public comment period with our concerns. The Administration then
completely ignores our input and issues a final rule. When they
get the suit notice, they call & beg us not to sue - but refuse to
address the problems. All nationwides will be up for renewal soon.
The Administration can fix these giveaways - or not.
33. Prior Converted Cropland - The Administration issued policy to remove
all protection for functioning wetlands that currently are farmed.
This totals 53 MILLION ACRES. Sierra Club asked that they be used
as restoration sites at a minimum. We should not be turning
farmland into shopping centers & condos.
34. Refusing to rescind the Takings Executive Order.
35. Failure to give us a Peace Dividend.
- money could go to environmental programs.
- military is major polluter.
______________
PROCESS DESTRUCTION:
36. Signing the "unfunded mandates" bill -- which replaces regulation
with
"market" control of environmental protections.
37. New Ocean Dumping Policy that would allow risk assessment models to
substitute for testing contaminants to be dumped into our oceans.
(Even EDF said it was so bad that it should be thrown out). Tests
for bioaccumulation or toxicity would no longer be required.
38. One-Sided Appeals Process for wetlands permits. Only the developer
can
appeal - we cannot. They are still going over the public comments
on this - could be final this year.
39. Failure to enforce anti-trust laws.
40. Anti-terrorism Bill
When Judy Barry & Daryl Cherny of Earth First! were blown up in
their car, the FBI accused *them* of bombing themselves. They then
used the bombing as a pretext to investigate Earth First, going
through phone records, busting into environmentalists' homes, and
the like. The so-called anti-terrorism bill enhances
law-enforcement's powers and *all* grass-roots organizations
should be concerned.
41. Jly 21 96 Signed a Bill Transferring National Park Service property
to a local juristiction which intends to let a developer build a
park and recreation area for children over an area which now is
used for solid waste disposal.
But he seemed like such a nice guy ......
___________________________________________
Compiled by:
-David Dilworth 408/624-6500