Posted on 24-4-2003

Earth Day 2003, Gone But Not Forgot

Activists: War Lets Bush Aim At Environment
By Debbie Gilbert, The Gainsville Times,Tuesday 23 April 2003

With the nation's attention still riveted on the war in Iraq, most Americans probably aren't aware that today is Earth Day.

Some area environmentalists say the Bush administration has taken advantage of the public's distraction, pushing through an anti-environmental agenda without anyone noticing.

"Fear is a good tool," said Adele Kushner, president of Alto-based Action for a Clean Environment. "You get people worried about something else, and then they don't have time to think about who's chopping all their trees down."

Brent Martin, director of Georgia ForestWatch in Ellijay, said the administration is trying to weaken landmark federal statutes, such as the Clean Air and Endangered Species acts, that have been in place for decades.

"We've had major environmental rollbacks in the last 90 days, but they've managed to get all this stuff in under the radar," he said. "Everything has been subsumed by war coverage, and no one is listening."

In March, for example, the administration reversed a ban on snowmobiles in national parks, called for legislation exempting military installations from federal environmental laws, and dropped Clinton-era rules that were set to take effect on cleaning up impaired streams.

And this month, the Department of the Interior announced that 3 million acres of designated wilderness in Utah would lose protected status.

"I think we're looking at an administration that's far worse than the (former Interior Secretary James) Watt years under Reagan," Martin said. "But they're subtle about it. They take a logging plan and call it the Healthy Forests Initiative. They take a plan that allows more air pollution and call it the Clear Skies Initiative."

Kushner said she's frustrated by these euphemistic slogans.

"'Clear Skies' sounds good, but what it actually meant was that enforcement (of air-quality rules) on coal-fired power plants became voluntary," she said. "With good PR and good speechwriters, you can make it sound pretty. But it's a farce."

Bob Baschnagel, associate director of the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, said the situation has turned out exactly as he feared it would.

"When Bush took office, he placed former industry lobbyists in environmental positions throughout his administration," he said. "He took a lot of heat for his environmental policies at first. But after Sept. 11, that was all forgotten. The public's attention span is not that long, and they have so many other concerns now."

Foremost among these worries is the economy. In a March Gallup poll, 47 percent of Americans said they think the environment is getting worse, compared to 38 percent in 2002. Yet when asked, 'If the environment and economic growth conflict, which should take priority?', respondents were much more likely to choose growth than they were a year ago.

And not everyone is unhappy with Bush's policies. David Jarrard, a sawmill owner in White County, would love to see wilderness areas eliminated in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

"It would be so much better if they got rid of these restrictions," he said. "We can't even go in and get rid of the pine beetle infestation."

Organizations that oppose the administration's policies have little strength to fight back, as nonprofits have been hit hard by the weak economy.

"Funding is tough," Kushner said. "Some foundations have gone belly-up."

Baschnagel said longtime activists tell him they have never seen a more gloomy situation. But they're determined to weather the storm.

"The environmental movement is not going to go away," he said. "At some point, the Bush administration will slip up and the pendulum will start to swing back. This too will pass."



WASHINGTON, DC, April 22, 2003 (ENS) - The Earth Day Network, coordinator of the 33rd annual Earth Day, is using today's spotlight on the environment to inspire one million new people to register to vote. "If you want to do one thing for the environment, register to vote!" the organization says on its website, which provides a page to download voter registration forms.

The campaign information for the One Million New Voters campaign was sent to all presidential hopefuls in early March, and the campaign has been endorsed by Senator Joeseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, Congressman Dennis Kuchinich of Ohio, Congressman Richard Gephardt of Missouri, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, all Democrats, and Senator John McCain of Arizona, a Republican. President George W. Bush also received the campaign materials, but he has not responded.

Theresa Thames, Earth Day Network director of diversity outreach and new initiatives, who with Earth Day Network president Kathleen Rogers created the One Million New Voters campaign, says the goal is to get more people of diverse backgrounds involved with environmental issues that affect them directly.

"When they started Earth Day in 1970, it was really a middle class movement, said Thames today. The crowd got older and whiter as the years have gone by. This campaign aims to really engage youth and people of diverse backgrounds."

To encourage new voter registrations, the Earth Day Network has formed partnerships with Project Vote, the Southwest Voter Registration Project and the NAACP Voter Project organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Thames says the campaign is not just to register people to vote, but also to educate people, to reframe and repackage environmental issues in terms that relate to their lives. Minority youth bear the brunt of environmental contamination, suffering diseases such as asthma and lead poisoning, Thames, said. They may never visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but the Thames says the Earth Day Network voter registration campaign can get them interested in environmental issues in their own communities.

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has its own Earth Day voter registration page. "There are over 8.5 million environmentalists in the U.S., more than the size of the Christian Coalition and NRA combined! We have the strength and numbers to make our elected officials in Washington pay attention - if we are organized and if we vote!" the LCV says on its website.

LCV president Deb Callahan said today, "The next 559 days - from Earth Day 2003 to Election Day 2004 - might turn out to be the most important year and a half in American environmental history. The next 559 days may spell the difference between whether Earth Day in the future is an event to celebrate or a day of disappointment."

"Americans have watched the Bush administration dismantle environmental laws that have improved the health and security of families for decades," Callahan said. Americans have watched President Bush consistently place the desires of powerful corporate interests ahead of the needs of regular people. And Americans are not happy."

Americans who have complaints about Bush administration environmental policies will have an Earth Day opportunity to get answers to their questions tonight. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman will be in the hot seat this evening on "Ask the White House," an online interactive forum that debuted last week where citizens can submit questions to White House officials. Questions will be accepted from 5 pm Eastern Time at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask

Interior Secretary Gale Norton visited the Kuenzler family farm and wildlife habitat preserve in North Carolina for Earth Day. Ed and Jutta Kuenzler bought a 154 acre property in Orange County in 1965 and have since turned the whole farm into a conservation easement. They have restored a degraded wetland and turned it into a wildlife refuge for migratory birds, amphibians, reptiles and native plants.

"The environmental challenges we face in the 21st century are in many ways more subtle and more difficult than we have faced in the past," Norton said. "They deal with managing the increasing demands on the land and the conservation of our resources - how do we meet the need to develop and expand our economy while conserving our land and its rivers, lakes, forests, and abundant wildlife?" For Norton, the answer lies in "cooperative conservation." "We need to empower Americans to become citizen-conservationists on their own land," she said. "The best thing federal and state governments can do is to empower people like the Kuenzlers to take conservation into their own hands."

Several agencies of the federal government are participating in Earth Day this year. Find out more at: http://www.earthday.gov/

The energy company BP today inaugurated the largest solar field on the East Coast in Paulsboro, New Jersey, to facilitate productive reuse of a 130 acre former petroleum and specialty chemical storage and distribution facility located east of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. The solar field produces an estimated 350,000 kilowatt-hours a year, enough to power about 50 typical homes. The power is generated by an array of 5,880 solar panels and provides up to 30 percent of the energy needed for environmental remediation equipment at the former terminal.

"This project takes land that has served it purpose for heavy industry in the 20th century and provides an adaptive reuse with 21st century technology, making clean electricity without a smokestack," said Paulsboro Mayor John Burzichelli, who also serves New Jersey as Assemblyman for the 3rd Legislative District.

Several environmental organizations are using Earth Day 2003 to object to Bush administration environmental policies. U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) released a new report today detailing how Bush administration has intensified its attacks on environmental protections after the 2002 mid-term election which gave Republicans the balance of power in Congress.

"Since the 2002 elections, the Bush administration has worked behind closed doors with polluters to craft one proposal after another to weaken environmental and public health protections," said U.S. PIRG Legislative Director Anna Aurilio. "This Earth Day, we call on the Bush administration to listen to the public, not the polluters, and to uphold, not uproot, America's environmental laws."

As an example, USPIRG notes that earlier this month the Bush administration announced that the Interior Department intends to halt all reviews of public lands for new wilderness protection. "This is a sweeping change in wilderness policy that will leave millions of acres of pristine lands open to mining, drilling, road building and other development," the organization says.

In Berkeley, California, Environmentalists Against War, a coalition of environmental organizations and individuals who came together in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq, is encouraging environmental groups to use Earth Day to talk about the environmental impacts of war and what can be done to promote peace. "Now that the war is winding down, it's important to focus on environmental restoration in Iraq," said Peter Drekmeier, coordinator of Environmentalists Against War and former executive director of Earth Day Network. "The cleanup of depleted uranium and the reconstruction of water and sewage treatment plants should be a priority."

Former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley released the key findings of a poll conducted by the American Zoo and Aquariums Association (AZA) that shows children are keenly aware of the environmental problems facing the planet, and believe they themselves are a potent force for saving the Earth. AAZ's Opinion Poll attracted 60,000 respondents, 84 percent of whom were children. The children said they want information and opportunities for action. They want to know what they can do to help. They also want to know who is helping, what is being done, what is working. Bradley and AZA are making the full report available to leaders from the public and private sectors at no charge.

Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich today signed into law a bill that repeals the 300 year old Maryland prohibition on Sunday hunting, drawing instand criticism from The Fund for Animals. The bill was opposed by diverse constituencies including horseback riders, hikers, campers, wildlife watchers, animal welfare advocates, and religious groups.

It is ironic that Governor Ehrlich chose Earth Day to sign a bill that threatens all the Maryland citizens who want to enjoy nature and the outdoors on Sundays without fear of being shot,said Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals. It is also ironic that during a budgetary crisis Governor Ehrlich thinks it is appropriate to increase spending for recreational hunting opportunities at the expense of public safety.It will cost Maryland taxpayers nearly $50,000 each year for the Natural Resources Police to enforce hunting regulations on Sundays.

Finally, former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day, said today, "The President must begin a national dialogue on the issue of sustainability by beginning a tradition of a biennial State of the Environment address. This biennial message would be in addition to the traditional State of the Union address. Congress must undertake a comprehensive series of educational hearings on the concept and significance of sustainability."

"The public must encourage serious Presidential and congressional attention to the issue of sustainability," Nelson said. "The youth of America are also involved, making it clear to the President and Congress that sustainability is essential to the security of our nation."

The Earth Day Network lists many Earth Day events from now through June online at: www.earthday.net