The toxic chemicals treaty applies mostly to poisons no longer used in industrialized countries, so banning them does not carry the costs that the United States could face under the Kyoto protocol. The chemicals treaty, another leftover from President Clinton, passed what Bush appeared to lay out as his tests. We must work to eliminate or at least severely restrict the release of these toxins without delay. In packaging Bush's environmental steps this week, his aides were mindful of Earth Day activities and the summit of Western Hemisphere leaders in Quebec, both this weekend. The summit is about trade but such gatherings tend to intensify the focus on environmental and human rights issues as well.
Critics say evenhandedness has been lacking.
Apart from his dismissal of Clinton's arsenic rules and the global warming treaty, Bush abandoned a campaign promise to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and suspended new cleanup requirements for mining companies. He sought to accommodate timber interests' challenge to the Clinton ban on road-building and logging in a third of the nation's federal forest land. Many of Bush's moves have come in reaction to a spate of rules released in Clinton's final days. Bush suspended the rules until he had time to review them. Now, he's letting some take effect and pulling others back for more study.