© Environment News Service (ENS) 2001
June 22, 2001
By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, June 22, 2001 (ENS) - As President George W. Bush touted his commitment to environmental protection, open space conservation and outdoor recreation in Alabama on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives was defeating several of the president's anti-environmental proposals, including a plan to open national monuments and off shore areas to oil drilling.

President Bush traveled to Oak Mountain State Park in Alabama to discuss his plans for the federal government to work as a better partner with states and local communities toward responsible environmental stewardship. The President called on Congress to enact his budget request for full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and highlighted the importance of funding the program to help states and local communities to improve conservation, environmental protection and recreational opportunities.

"Thirty-six years ago the federal government undertook to assist parks just like this one," Bush said, referring to the creation of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which uses money from offshore oil and gas leases to fund land protection initiatives, particularly at the state level.

"But for a long period of time, the federal government has been falling short on its commitment to this fund, and many states have been denied money that was promised the citizens," Bush continued. "In outlining my budget priorities this year, I proposed fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund: $900 million will fully fund the fund. It's the highest request in the fund's history, and half of the money will go to the states, just like the authors of the law intended."

Full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund was one of Bush's campaign promises. His support for the program, which gives states significant latitude in how to spend the funds, meshes with the President's preference for state rather than federal oversight of environmental protections.

Bush also ran on a platform of keeping federal lands open to resource extraction: logging, mining, and energy exploration. The president's public lands policy is in direct contrast to that of the previous administration, which set aside more federal land as permanently protected monuments, parks and wilderness areas than any president since Theodore Roosevelt.

Bush wanted to reopen some of those protected areas to oil and gas drilling and coal mining, citing ongoing energy shortages in California as evidence that the nation needed to develop new energy sources.

Now, it appears the president may not get his wish.

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Interior appropriations bill for fiscal year 2002 (HR 2217), including three pro-environment riders aimed at protecting public lands and waters from energy development.

One amendment would delay oil and gas leasing off the Florida coastline. The controversial leasing program has long been opposed by the state of Florida, including the current governor, President Bush's brother Jeb Bush.

A second rider would prevent energy development within the present boundaries of existing national monuments by precluding new leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act.

The third amendment would protect local communities from environmental threats from hardrock mining by preserving all parts of current mining regulations that keep companies from shifting costs to taxpayers, safeguard surface and groundwater resources, and maintain the government's authority to deny irresponsible mining proposals.

"These votes send a strong message to the Bush administration that more and more members of Congress are listening to the American public rather than to Big Oil," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, conservation advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG). "On behalf of our members across the country who want a clean environment and a sound economy, U.S. PIRG applauds the House of Representatives for voting today to protect our coastlines and other treasured public lands."

In a remarkable blow to another Bush administration initiative, the House also voted to reject an Interior Department proposal to hamstring citizen enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. The administration had introduced into the Interior budget a measure to bar U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding for any threatened or endangered species actions ordered by the courts in response to citizen lawsuits.

"We are deeply gratified that the House kept citizens in the picture on listing endangered species," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. "The administration proposed to throw the fate of species at risk on the tender mercies of Interior Secretary [Gale] Norton, who has argued that the entire Endangered Species Act is unconstitutional. We're very thankful that House of Representatives chose a different path."

Coupled with new polling results that show that a majority of Americans disapprove of President Bush's handling of environmental and energy issues, the House's refusal to support the Bush line could spell serious trouble for the Bush administration's agenda.

"The House said, loud and clear, that Capitol Hill does not agree with his environmental views," said William Meadows, president of The Wilderness Society. "Bush should see this as a warning to keep the oil and gas and coal industries out of our most spectacular places."

"We hope the Bush administration is learning the same lesson taught to James Watt and Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s and to the Newt Gingrich leadership in 1994," added Meadows. "Americans care deeply about protecting the environment, and efforts to ram through a toxic agenda are doomed to failure."

Many in the president's own political party also object to Bush's environmental policies.

"Votes from pro-conservation Republicans made the difference," in passing the pro-environment riders to the Interior appropriations bill, noted REP America, the national grassroots organization of Republicans for environmental protection.

"The Republicans who know that conservation is conservative were the ones who put the amendment over the top. We're proud they did the right thing and voted to protect all of our national monuments," said Jim Scarantino, REP America executive director. "Since the days of Theodore Roosevelt, who created 18 national monuments, Republican presidents have used the Antiquities Act to protect special places with great scenic, recreational, and cultural value. We're thrilled that Republican lawmakers remembered our party's proud conservation legacy and voted to protect what their political forebears created." Error: Unable to read footer file.