Environmentalists now argue Bush will roll back environmental protections across the board, from industrial pollution standards to wetlands protections. Just last week, Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced a review of personal watercraft bans in federally run parks. Some members of the public have become confused as to how Bush stands on the environment, and are, in some ways, in disbelief that he could be so right-wing, experts say. He has managed to take missteps along every step of the way. They say the public in New Jersey is particularly worried about what it is seeing from Bush because of the state's history of problems with industrial pollution and toxic waste cleanups.
People are well aware of the rollback of the arsenic standard.
Bush has recently taken some conciliatory stands on other environmental issues, including supporting a worldwide phasing out of some of the most toxic chemicals and supporting tougher standards for diesel exhaust from trucks. But environmentalists, eager to find fault in Bush, say this is too little too late. Of course, many environmentalists became embittered immediately by the president's desire for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. One of the most controversial issues confronting Bush has been the debate over a tougher standard for arsenic in drinking water. The president drew flak for delaying a reduction in the national arsenic standard from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion adopted at that last minute by the Clinton administration.