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For Immediate Release
Statement of Rodger Schlickeisen on Release of New Clean Air Regulations
WASHINGTON -- Today the Bush administration has once again demonstrated what their true objective is on environmental issues. Clearly it is not to protect the health of the American public. Rather, it is to aid their industry supporters by weakening environmental protection.
Considering that the administration's intention to weaken the Clean Air Act has been clear and expected for nearly a year, it is telling that they delayed taking action until after the national elections, after Congress had adjourned and after the nation's attention had shifted to the Thanksgiving holiday. They know this is an action against the public's interest, so they have carefully timed it so it would do the least possible political damage to them.
But this is only the first of numerous anti-environmental actions that have been delayed for political reasons and now will come flooding out. I expect that as early as next week, for example, the Bush administration will propose to emasculate the regulations implementing the National Forest Management Act – in the process destroying environmental protections that have been in place since early in the Reagan administration. Defenders has sought in vain to obtain information on the internal process within the Department of Agriculture, and whom the Bush appointees met with from industry as they drew up their recommendations, but the Department has stonewalled us. We have recently gone to court to force the administration to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and give us the requested information.
The administration's proposal to gut the "New Source Review" provisions of the Clean Air Act is nothing short of shameful.
For Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, this should be the issue that finally causes her to resign. As a moderate on environmental issues, and a former governor of New Jersey, who fought to strengthen implementation of our clean air laws, she should now resign to demonstrate her disagreement with the President's policies. She has been overruled on nearly every major issue from the day she began work ... starting with the President himself undercutting her when she repeated his pledge to control carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.
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Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America’s Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, including nearly 100,000 in California, Defenders is an effective voice for the environment. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
