President Bush’s First 100 Days:
A Look at How the Special Interests Have
Fared

Environment

In his first 100 days in office, President Bush has presided over a litany of initiatives derided by critics as anti-environmental. In his proposed budget, Bush cut funding for research into renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, by roughly half. He’s proposed a ban on private lawsuits that force the government to add new plants and animals to the endangered species list. He’s also backed out of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty on global warming, and broken a campaign promise to impose further regulations on carbon dioxide emissions. And then there was the real headline-grabber: delaying implementation of a Clinton-era rule that would reduce the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking water.

The White House counters that Bush has made several environmentally-friendly pronouncements, such as upholding the ban on snowmobiling in national parks, backing lead rules, supporting regulations protecting wetlands and signing a worldwide treaty that would phase out the use of chemicals like PCBs. Environmentalists point out that the U.S. banned the use of those chemicals more than ten years ago and say they’re planning on making Bush’s environmental record a big issue in 2002. It’s hard to deny that some of Bush’s most generous campaign supporters will benefit from several of his early environmental decisions. Bush received more than $1.8 million in individual and PAC contributions from the oil and gas industry in 1999-2000. He got another $1.3 million from the automotive industry, and nearly $300,000 from the timber industry.

The most visible environmental battle, of course, is the fight over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Bush has long been an advocate of drilling, touting it as a solution to the country’s burgeoning energy crisis. But a lukewarm response from Congress and the public has put the plan in jeopardy. Bush may have to content himself with opening up the gulf coast of Florida to oil exploration, despite the objections of Florida governor and his brother, Jeb Bush. Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney, who made more than $36 million last year as CEO of oil services company Halliburton and from the sale of Halliburton stock, is heading an energy task force looking for additional places in the West to explore for oil and gas.

Source: Center for Responsive Politics

"More local pollution:  The administration bill repeals important air quality safeguards required under existing law..... 
Moreover, the administration bill even prohibits individual states from choosing to keep such requirements in their current Clean Air Act implementation programs."

Source: National Resource Defense Council

"Mr. Bush's own EPA determined that enforcement of existing Clean Air laws would result in greater pollution reductions than are proposed in the "Clear Skies Initiative," which would actually result in 125% more sulfur dioxide, 68% more nitrogen oxides, and 420% more mercury being thrust into the air."

Source: Atlantic Salmon Federation

"First, we dispute the claim that simply increasing commercial logging across 191 million acres of public lands will facilitate safer, more efficient fire suppression or more effective protection for homeowners and communities. Often, once timber sales are completed, it takes years for the logging debris to be treated, and in many cases the "slash" is never treated; moreover, logged units are rarely maintained to control the prolific growth of flammable small trees, brush, and invasive weeds. This greatly increases the fire risks and fuel hazards."

Source: Firefighters

"This is a not an effort to protect communities, it's a calculated attempt to clear-cut environmental laws," said Sara Zdeb, Friends of the Earth's Legislative Director. "Once again, Bush is helping his special interest friends cash in on our national treasures."

Source:Friends of the Earth

Firefighters, Forest Experts, Strongly Criticize Bush Forest Fire Plan

Seen as "Trojan Horse" for "Corporate Welfare"

"It is ironic," said Timothy Ingalsbee, a firefighter and director of the Oregon-based Western Fire Ecology Center, "that in this time of corporate and financial scandals, President Bush wants to completely deregulate the system. They speak with the corporate elite, but never the working people. Not one of the 17,000 firefighters out on the line was ever consulted about how to protect their communities."

Source: EMS