President Bush’s press secretary, Ari Fleischer, told reporters last week that the President had declared an environmental “theme week,” not unlike his earlier “theme weeks” related to spirituality and the economy. This Marriott Food Services-approach to governance does have its benefits for the nation; as part of this “theme week,” the President announced a series of proposals that should cause a marginal improvement in the state of the environment. For that, the Bush administration deserves credit, as it is fulfilling some of its campaign promises to work on conservation and other environmental issues.
However, we cannot help but sense these proposals are but a mere drop in the bucket for the Bush team. On the major issues, Bush has consistently shown that he will not take pro-environment positions but instead consistently favors business. He announced that he would not support the Kyoto global warming treaty, which called for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, on the grounds that it would unfairly punish developed countries. He intends to drill for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, over vociferous objections of environmental groups and wildlife advocates. He shrugged off high levels of arsenic in New Mexican drinking water, in what has perhaps been his biggest public relations debacle to date. His pro-environment decisions have been only small concessions. He accepted a Clinton administration regulation on lead in water, a victory for clean water advocates but a small win compared to the global warming issue. He gave his support to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, a treaty which essentially bans the use of 12 chemicals that have not been used in the United States since the 1970s.
For the first hundred days of his administration, the buzz phrase when it came to the environment was: “Take action based on science, not based on public relations.” Certainly appropriate caution should be taken to not succumb to the tyranny of the majority. But Bush’s administration has chosen to overlook the consensus conclusions of the most prominent scientific societies, who have thrown their weight behind the treaties that he has rejected. It seems that he is taking action based on the interests of industry and not on the public interest or the scientific evidence. We cautiously support the recent spate of pro-environment decisions in the Bush administration, but take the opportunity to remind the President that he cannot pose as an environmental leader while allowing industry to despoil our planet.
