Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Thursday, 8 Oct 1992 22:35:38 CDT
From: <U56503@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.politics.clinton
Subject: ==> Clinton/Gore On the Environment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Information in the public interest which does not imply that it
is the opinion of UIC.  Contact 75300.3115@compuserve.com for
further information.
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         CLINTON/GORE ON PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT


For all its rhetoric, the Bush Administration has been an
environmental disaster.  The President has ignored the threat
of global warming and the depletion of the Earth's ozone
layer, undermined enforcement of the Clean Air Act, supported
drilling in Alaska's precious Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
abandoned his "no net loss" wetlands policy, and opposed
efforts to increase recycling.  The united States ought to
lead the world in fighting for environmental protection, but
George Bush has been dragging his feet abroad and ignoring his
promises at home.

It's time for a change.  Bill Clinton and Al Gore will give
America a real environmental protection is fundamental to
America's national security - and that we must reject Bush
Administration attempts to force a false choice between
environmental protection and economic growth.  A Clinton/Gore
Administration will challenge Americans and demand
responsibility at every level - from individuals and families
to corporations and government agencies - to do more to
preserve our world.


Four goals:

 *    Reduce solid and toxic waste, and air and water
      pollution to ensure we leave our nation cleaner and
      healthier.

 *    Preserve places of natural beauty and ecological
      importance - such as our national parks, wilderness
      areas, old-growth forests, and wetlands - so that we can
      pass on America's natural splendor to our children.

 *    Shatter the false choice between environmental
      protection and economic growth by creating a market-
      based environmental protection strategy that rewards
      conservation and "green" business practices while
      penalizing polluters.

 *    Exert international leadership to advance our won
      nation's interest in a healthier global environment, a
      stable global climate, and global biodiversity.  Reduce
      American and worldwide use of fossil fuels and airborne
      chemicals that destroy the ozone layer and work to keep
      our world's delicate environment in balance.

Reduce pollution and solid waste

 *    Create and expand markets for recycled products by
      providing revenue - neural tax incentives which favor
      the use of recycled materials whenever possible.

 *    Create a solid waste reduction program which gives
      credits to companies that recover a portion of waste
      they generate and penalizes companies that fail to do
      so.  Less efficient companies would be forced to buy
      waste credits form more efficient companies, creating a
      strong profit incentive for reducing solid waste.

 *    Pass a new Clean Water Act with standards for "non-
      point-source" pollution and incentives for our firms,
      farmers, and families to develop ways to reduce and
      prevent polluted run-off at its source; launch a
      national education campaign to encourage all citizens to
      drastically reduce their contributions to "non-point-
      source" pollution made by household chemicals, lawn
      products, and pesticides.

 *    Reform and ensure proper enforcement of the EPA
      Superfund so that taxpayer money goes toward cleaning up
      toxic waste instead of paying legal bills.  Currently,
      almost half of all federal Superfund appropriations go
      to pay lawyers' fees - while 22,000 Superfund sites
      threaten the health of citizens and communities across
      America.

 *    Support legislation that allows ordinary citizens to sue
      federal agencies that ignore environmental laws and
      regulations designed to preserve our environment - so
      government bureaucrats are made accountable for proper
      and effective environmental law enforcement.

 *    Support efforts to mandate public reporting on toxic
      chemicals used and produced by companies, and require
      those companies to develop plans for reducing their
      toxic chemical use.

 *    Crack down on environmental crime by holding companies
      and polluters responsible for their behavior.
      Corporations that deliberately violate environmental
      laws will pay the price - and polluters will be sent to
      jail where appropriate.

Preserve America's natural beauty and key resources

 *    Preserve our ancient forests for their scientific and
      ecological importance.

 *    Make the "no net loss" wetlands pledge a reality; base
      wetlands policy on science instead of politics by
      working with the National Academy of Sciences and other
      members of the scientific community to devise
      appropriate policies.  Our wetlands act as a natural
      filter for much of the water America drinks, and make up
      one of our most important and fragile natural habitats.

 *    Rededicate the agencies that manage our national parks
      and wilderness lands to a true conservation ethic;
      expand our efforts to acquire new parklands and
      recreational sites with funds already available under
      the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

 *    Designate as a wilderness area the Arctic National
      Wildlife Refuge and stop the crusade for new offshore
      drilling.

Use market forces to encourage environmental protection

 *    Place greater emphasis on preventing and reducing
      pollution before it happens, so we won't have to spend
      so much on cleaning it up after the fact.  We can do
      that without big bureaucracies and public spending - by
      harnessing market forces, integrating environmental
      incentives into daily production decisions of big firms,
      and making polluters pay.

 *    Harness market forces to reward consumers and businesses
      that conserve, and penalize polluters and inefficient
      energy users.

 *    Create revenue-neutral tax incentives to encourage the
      use of alternative fuels like natural gas, and renewable
      energy sources like hydro-electricity, solar power, and
      wind power,

Exert American leadership for a healthier world

 *    Provide real international leadership to protect the
      world's delicate environmental balance.

 *    Limit U.S. carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by
      the year 2000 and accelerate the phase-out of substances
      that deplete the ozone layer.

 *    Call on major banks and multinational institutions to
      negotiate debt-for-nature swaps that allow developing
      nations to reduce their crippling debt burdens by
      setting aside precious lands.

 *    Restore U.S. funding for the United Nations' population
      stabilization efforts, and allow U.S. foreign aid to
      support international family planning services.

 *    Explore partnerships and joint ventures with developing
      countries to preserve and protect rainforests while
      accelerating important medical and agricultural research
      and development.

Improve energy efficiency

 *    Accelerate our progress toward more fuel-efficient cars,
      and raise the CARE standards for automakers to 40-45
      miles per gallon.

 *    Increase U.S. reliance on natural gas - which is
      inexpensive, clean-burning and abundant, and can reduce
      carbon dioxide emissions - by issuing an executive order
      to purchase natural gas-powered vehicles for the federal
      automobile fleet, following Texas' lead.

 *    Invest more in the development of renewable energy
      sources; encourage the use of new energy sources like
      wind and solar power, and new methods to make better use
      of the resources we already have.

 *    Stop spending 60 percent of the Department of Energy's
      budget on nuclear weapons, with nuclear power and fossil
      fuels receiving most of the rest.

 *    Convert some of our Cold War military spending to
      civilian purposes, like funding light rail systems,
      which can speed travel, save fuel, and provide
      transportation and regulating utilities.

 *    Sustain efforts to improve the efficiency of coal
      operations through development and use of clean coal
      technologies.

The Record

Natural resources

 *    Arkansas received 14 Environmental Excellence Awards
      from Region 6 of the Environmental Protection Agency in
      July 1992 for wastewater pretreatment and treatment
      programs; for non-point source treatment programs; for
      recycling, waste reduction and solid waste management
      programs.

 *    Arkansas is one of only a few states meeting all federal
      standards under the Clean Air Act.

 *    In 1988 Arkansas developed what are considered to be
      some of the most progressive water quality standards in
      the nation.  These regulations prevent point source
      pollution in the highest quality waters of the state -
      those streams, rivers and lakes that have high
      recreational, scenic, and habitat values.  One-hundred
      percent of Arkansas' lakes have been determined to be
      fishable and swimmable.  To address Arkansas' most
      serious water quality problem, nonpoint pollution by
      animal wastes, Governor Clinton created a task force
      which has approved new management requirements and is
      developing additional legislation for the next session.

 *    Bill Clinton was endorsed by the Sierra Club in 1990.
 *    Arkansas has been ranked in the top ten states for
      efforts in wetlands protection and energy research.

 *    Governor Clinton helped create the Plant the Future
      program which aims to plant an additional 10 million
      trees each for 10 years, and to establish a "no net
      loss" policy for forest land.

 *    Encouraged the State Department of Education to
      emphasize environmental issues in all aspects of the
      curriculum.  An Environmental Education Trust Fund also
      was created in 1991 at the Department of Pollution
      control and Ecology.

 *    Expanded Protected Lands.  Since 1983, 31 new natural
      areas have been added to the state's System of Natural
      Areas, three state parks have been established, four new
      wildlife management areas have been created, and 30
      separate tracts of land have been added to the state
      park system.  The Natural and Cultural Resource Trust
      Fund, established by Clinton in 1987, provides about $3
      million a year to protect natural areas and restore
      historic structures.

 *    In 1985 received the President's Public Service Award
      from the Nature Conservancy for "being a creative leader
      over the last six years in Arkansas land preservation
      work."

 *    Created a state Land Bank, providing an initial $1
      million to preserve natural areas, purchase state park
      lands and wildlife management areas, and establish the
      Arkansas Natural and Rivers Commission.  Arkansas has
      been ranked among the top 10 sates for efforts in
      wetland protection and energy research spending.

 *    Senator Gore strengthened the Clean Air Act of 1990 to
      increase monitoring of carbon dioxide emissions and
      prevent polluters from establishing "dead zones" around
      sources of pollution that remove people but not
      pollution.

 *    Senator Gore was a leader in the successful efforts to
      kill provisions that would have allowed drilling in the
      pristine Arctic National Wildlife refuge.

Solid Waste

 *    Governor Clinton banned the disposal of batteries,
      unshredded tires, and yard wastes in landfills.  He
      required the state to expand its purchasing of recycled
      materials, and has established a goal of recycling 25%
      of the state's solid waste by 1995 and 40% by the year
      2000.

 *    Established trust funds for recycling grants and waste
      tire management.

 *    Created two new divisions at the Department of Pollution
      Control and Ecology, a Recycling Division and a
      Marketing Board for recyclables.  Finally, state law now
      mandates that every Arkansan shall have an opportunity
      and place to recycle.

 *    In 1980, the U.S. EPA and the State of Arkansas
      identified 314 open dumps int the state; since then,
      Governor Clinton pushed through a measure to give the
      state authority to deny operating permits to companies
      with bad environmental records in this and other states.
      Increased criminal penalties and doubled civil penalties
      for violating the state's environmental laws and
      regulations.

Senator Gore wrote legislation to encourage recycling and
strengthen markets for recycled products by providing tax
incentives for the purchase of "re-manufacturing" equipment
and by strengthening markets for recycled products.

Hazardous waste

 *    Governor Clinton helped establish a hazardous waste
      program among the first approved by the EPA and later
      used as a model by the National Governor's Association.

 *    Passed a Chemical Right-to-Know law: Clinton helped
      create the right of public employees to know about
      hazardous chemicals in the workplace.

 *    Empowered Citizens: Clinton put more citizen control
      into the state Pollution Control and Ecology commission,
      and passed a law declaring that any lawsuit settlement
      which restricts a person's right to disclose the
      existence of an environmental hazard is contrary to
      public policy and void.

 *    Senator Gore authored the"Environmental Justice Act" to
      confront the "environmental racism" that puts minorities
      in low-income communities at excessive risk from
      environmental threats.  The legislation would identify
      the most threatened communities and target assistance -
      including health surveys and community grants - to
      people in those communities.

 *    Sponsored legislation which prohibits "back-hauling," a
      practice in which trucks carrying hazardous material in
      one direction are loaded with food products for return
      trips, often with inadequate cleanup form hazardous
      loads.

 *    Cosponsored the original Superfund Act which now is law.
      It resulted from hearings chaired by Senator Gore which
      revealed illegal dumping of billions of pounds of
      hazardous chemical waste.

 *    Sponsored an amendment passed in the Senate's 1992
      Energy Bill to accelerate government efforts to procure
      the most energy efficient products.  The amendment also
      provides grant money to states for energy efficiency and
      conservation initiatives.

 *    Led efforts to retain funding in the 1991 Interior Bill
      for research and development joint ventures designed to
      improve the use of solar and other renewable forms of
      energy.

 *    Authored a provision of the Clean Air Act that would
      prioritize energy efficiency in urban planning and
      transportation efficiency.

Global Leadership

 *    Senator Gore authored, introduced, and gained passage of
      a resolution stating that Antarctica would be preserved
      as a global ecological commons.  Republican, Democrats
      and leaders around the world have embraced the proposal.

 *    As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Delegation to the Earth
      Summit, Senator Gore worked to secure meaningful
      measures to protect the global environment.  He has led
      efforts to initiate and support programs to arrest
      global warming, protect the earth's forests and oceans,
      enhance biodiversity, and conserve resources.

 *    Sponsored the creation of the Strategic Environment
      Program, which promotes cooperation between military and
      civilian scientists and researchers to advance efforts
      to understand the global environment.  Gore also sparked
      efforts that for the first time will make available to
      civilian scientists data about the earth collected by
      U.S. intelligence agencies.

 *    Gained Senate passage of a measure to speed the phase-
      out of ozone-depleting chemicals, forcing the Bush
      administration to finally act in accordance with the
      Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

Newsgroups: alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.bush