Sierra Club Action Daily
Volume III, #2, January 3, 2001
-----------------------Quote of the
Day-------------------------------
A hard beginning maketh a good ending.
--John Heywood
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Take Action: Urge your Senators to oppose the nominations of
Ashcroft
and Norton, and support the nomination of Mineta. Call the Capitol
Switchboard at: (202) 224-3121
The Sierra Club Opposes:
Attorney General -- Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.)
Interior Secretary -- former Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton
The Sierra Club Supports:
Transportation Secretary -- Rep. Norman Mineta (D-Calif.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The Sierra Club's Position on Bush Cabinet Appointments
Attorney General -- Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.)
The Sierra Club opposes the appointment of John Ashcroft as Attorney
General. Ashcroft has an exceedingly poor environmental voting record
and is openly hostile to most environmental laws. Ashcroft voted
against
additional funding for environmental programs including the Clean
Water
Action Plan and toxic waste cleanups at Superfund sites. He also
voted
for a bill to roll back clean water protections, to prevent the EPA
from
enforcing arsenic standards for drinking water, and to allow mining
companies to dump cyanide and other mining waste on large areas of
public lands next to mining sites.
Ashcroft also opposes campaign finance reform. He voted against the
McCain-Feingold bill for a complete ban on soft money contributions
to
political parties, which would have closed a loophole that allows
mining, timber and other interests to gain influence by contributing
huge unregulated sums of money to political parties.
Interior Secretary -- former Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton
The Sierra Club opposes Bush's selection of Gale Norton as Interior
Secretary. During the Reagan presidency, Norton served as associate
solicitor at the Interior Department under Interior Secretary James
Watt. In that capacity she authored and signed legal opinions in
support
of drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and provided legal
advice on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's controversial approval
of
Two Forks Dam. Norton has also called the government's handling of
endangered species cases as an example of excessive regulation.
Watt later hired Norton as a lawyer for the arch-conservative
Mountain
States Legal Foundation, which often represents loggers, miners,
ranchers and water developers in fights against environmental groups.
Norton is also the founder and serves on advisory committee of the
Coalition of Republican Environmental Advocates (CREA), which is
considered by the Republicans for Environmental Protection (a
legitimate
GOP environmental group) to be "a transparent attempt to fool voters
who
care about environmental protection." Contributors to CREA include
several energy companies and associations representing the mining,
logging, chemical and coal industries.
Transportation Secretary -- Rep. Norman Mineta (D-Calif.)
Rep. Norm Mineta is a sound choice to head the Department of
Transportation. Secretary Mineta supported mass transit during his
tenure in the House of Representatives and co-sponsored a bill to
increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that would
increase fuel efficiency. Mineta also worked to make public
transportation more accessible for all Americans.
Rep. Mineta is open to protecting air and conserving precious natural
resources, and hopefully he will have a strong voice in the Bush
Administration.
Energy Secretary -- Sen. Spenser Abraham (R-Mich.)
The Sierra Club is concerned about the poor environmental record of
Bush's nominee for Energy Secretary, Sen. Spencer Abraham. Abraham
led
the Senate's efforts to prevent the Clinton Administration from
increasing fuel economy in cars and light trucks. He co-sponsored two
separate bills that would have allowed drilling for oil in the
fragile
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He also voted to kill an amendment
that
would have added $62 million to the Energy Department's solar and
renewable energy programs from being considered by the full Senate,
and
he voted to delay reforming the way oil companies pay royalties for
drilling public lands. Abraham also supported establishment of an
above-ground "interim" nuclear waste dump near Yucca Mountain in
Nevada,
which the Sierra Club opposed.
In 1999, Abraham sponsored legislation that would have abolished the
Department of Energy.
Americans' broad support for clean air and water makes the
environment
the perfect test of President-elect Bush's pledge to heal the
nation's
wounds. Unfortunately, Senator Abraham is a pathetic choice to guide
our
energy policy. The Club calls on the Senate to vigorously question
Abraham about his opposition to higher fuel efficiency standards, and
his unwillingness to support conservation and renewable energy
programs.
EPA Administrator ? New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R)
Gov. Christine Whitman has a mixed record on the environment, but on
balance we believe the Sierra Club could work with her as EPA
Administrator. As New Jersey governor, Whitman worked to safeguard
Sterling Forest and other unspoiled treasures from developers and
sprawl. She also stood at the forefront of the clean air fight when
she
pushed the nation's governors to support efforts to reduce soot and
smog
air pollution.
Unfortunately, Whitman also oversaw severe cuts to her state's
environmental law enforcement efforts, which cause us deep concern.
By
cutting New Jersey's environmental budget, she hampered her state's
efforts to enforce the nation's environmental standards. As EPA
Administrator, Gov. Whitman will have a duty to fight for funding to
effectively enforce the standards that protect Americans from
pollution.
For that reason, the Club hopes the Senate will press her about the
need
to enforce strong, mandatory environmental standards.
Agriculture Secretary ? Ann Veneman, former California Agriculture
Secretary
Ann Veneman's record is a cause for concern. For example, in her
private
law practice, Veneman has represented clients whose positions run
counter to the environmental protections that Americans want.
Specifically, she represented the Sierra Nevada Access, Multiple Use
and
Stewardship Coalition on the issue of the Sierra Nevada Environmental
Program. This coalition represents the interests of loggers, miners
and
off-road vehicle enthusiasts who pushed for fewer protections for
wild
forests and wildlife. (The Agriculture Department oversees the
Forest
Service.).
In addition, as California's Agriculture Secretary she opposed
efforts
to ban methyl bromide -- a toxic ozone-depleting pesticide, and when
stumping for Bush in California, she told farmers and ranchers they
would no longer be subjected to "unnecessary and burdensome"
government
environmental and safety protections under a Bush administration.
Veneman also has played a major role in promoting free trade
agreements
without adequate environmental, safety, labor and human rights
standards
(such as NAFTA).
It will be critical that the Senate quiz Veneman extensively on what
basic environmental and safety protections she thinks should no
longer
be enforced.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT
to [log in to unmask]
|
