Issue #3 RAW: The Uncooked Facts of the Bush Assault on the Environment
November 10, 2003


Over the past week, the Bush administration has spent a great deal of time
playing peacemaker between Senator Charles Grassley (IA) and Representative
Bill Thomas (CA) in a tireless effort to bring the Energy Bill to the
president?s desk so he can sign it into law.  We here at RAW have been
wondering why a president who is ordinarily so "hands-off"in congressional
matters would be this gung-ho about a simple bill.  Well, after extensive
research, our crack team discovered the top five reasons (take our word for
it: there are many, many more) President Bush might be keenly interested in
the Energy Bill.  This bill will:

5) Increase air pollution and global warming with new incentives to burn
coal for electricity without adequate pollution controls [Coal Title, Title
IV].
RAW keeps forgetting that the Bush Administration still thinks coal is the
"fuel of the future".  Wind and solar?  They are SO 20th century!

4) Give cities that are failing to clean up their air even more time to
meet standards while continuing their ineffective practices. [Barton
Amendment]
Some say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over
and expecting a different result.

3) Give $8.8 billion in subsidies to big oil, nuclear and coal companies.
[PIRG analysis].
And that doesn?t include additional incentives that could raise the total
as high as $20 billion.

2) Weaken environmental safeguards and pave the way for oil and gas
drilling on sensitive public lands in the Rocky Mountain West and Alaska
[Title 3, 10/10/03 letter].
Could this be why oil and gas companies have given Bush?s campaigns almost
$3 million?  (Center for Responsive Politics)

1) Lock-in American dependence on foreign oil by adding new roadblocks to
better fuel economy [Sections 701 (dual-fuel loophole) and 772 (additional
criteria for CAFE)].
Can you say "Halliburton"?


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