Because of its simultaneous official and campaign business, Gore's Michigan trip was mostly paid for by Gore's presidential campaign, said spokesman Chris Lehane. Taxpayers only paid for the staging of the hour-long environmental appearance at Alvan. Gore's trip was timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Earth Day, which is Saturday, and the vice president will mark the occasion by participating in Earth Day celebrations on the National Mall in Washington. Despite his reputation, however, the vice president has yet to capitalize on the issue among environmental activists. However, voters ranked the environment behind the economy, health care and education.
Environmentalists say that stymied air quality improvements in the state.
He recently cited state progress in cleaning up urban industrial areas, known as brownfields, while the federal Superfund toxic cleanup program has been bogged down in litigation. Dan Bartlett, a Bush campaign spokesman, said the Texas governor favors providing states with greater flexibility on environmental regulation but does not advocate they ignore federal environmental laws. The environment as albatross The issue presents some difficulties for Bush. Houston overtook Los Angeles last summer as the nation's smoggiest city, and Texas leads all states in toxic chemical releases to the environment. The Lone Star State has a large concentration of refineries and chemical plants.