The Clean Air [cough, cough] Party

From BushGreenWatch:

Environmentalists Offer Own "State of the Union" Aiming to get the jump on President Bush's State of the Union address tomorrow night, several environmental groups held a press conference yesterday in Washington to insert their issues into the news cycle. Mr. Bush's past addresses have given short-shrift to environmental matters of any kind. Global Warming: The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Yet the Bush Administration continues to stonewall any of the many proposals to reduce greenhouse gases, the primary human-caused factor in climate change. Indeed, when a host of nations met last month to plan for a cooperative effort to reduce greenhouse gases, the U.S. delegation actually worked to obstruct the conference rather than seek ways to combat the problem (BGW, Dec. 21, 2004). Despite the refusal of the U.S. to participate, 128 nations will begin implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on February 16. The U.S. is by far the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile in Congress, Senators McCain and Lieberman have introduced the Climate Stewardship Act, a modest attempt to cap U.S. global warming emissions at 2000 levels by 2010. Energy: Intertwined with the global warming issue is the continuing struggle over a new U.S. energy policy. Congress is expected to debate a new bill by spring, with most of last year's features again included. Environmentalists expect the bill will once more be top-heavy with huge subsidies for the already-rich oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries, while energy conservation and alternative energy sources such as wind and solar again receive little support. Congress and the Bush Administration continue to reject any suggestion of even a slight increase in the automobile fuel economy standard, which virtually every expert agrees is the most effective short-term answer to reducing the U.S.'s costly dependence on imported oil. Yet there are signs that the administration is actually aiming to make the situation even worse. Despite thousands of public comments urging stronger fuel economy standards, in December the Bush administration proposed a weight-based system that would encourage sales of the heaviest vehicles--SUVs and pick-up trucks--because their mileage requirements are even lower (the U.S. is already at a 24-year low for average fuel economy). Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Instead of experts' recommended solutions to America's foreign oil dependence, the Republican Congress and White House are again calling for drilling oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This despite the fact that none of the oil would reach the lower 48 states for up to 10 years, and that the most generous estimates predict ANWR may hold at best only 6-months' supply. Clean Air, Water: The Bush Administration is offering a "Clear Skies" plan that delays deadlines for meeting public health protections, allows violations of soot and smog health standards to continue for another 17 years, and repeals measures enacted by Congress in 1990 that control emissions of smog and soot from utilities, industry and transportation sources. "Clear Skies" also weakens protections from toxic mercury emissions and repeals current protections for local air quality when power plants expand their capacity. Threats to Americans' clean water come more from the Bush Administration than Congress. Among other things, the administration is expected to continue seeking to reduce the number and categories of waters protected, lower water quality standards and allow dumping more untreated sewage into the nation's waters.

But otherwise, the Bush-war Administration is truly a friend to the environment Corporate America.