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BUSH ENDANGERED SPECIES ATTACK UNANIMOUSLY
REJECTED BY HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE
BUT DON’T DECLARE TOTAL VICTORY YET-
HIS ANEMIC ENDANGERED SPECIES LISTING BUDGET
WILL HAMSTRING FEDERAL PROTECTION EFFORTS
On June 7, 2001, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on
Interior Appropriations unanimously rejected Bush’s proposal to
gut the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing process. This was
Bush’s first ESA policy proposal. Its defeat in the Republican
dominated House of Representatives demonstrates that his extreme
right-wing agenda is too much for even conservatives to stomach.
Bush had sought to suspend ESA deadlines to protect imperiled
species, give total discretion over whether to list species to
Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, and exempt the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service from having to obey court orders to protect
imperiled plants and animals. In response to massive public
opposition, Congress rejected the request.
Bush's budget to list endangered species - $8.47 million - was
approved, however, without an increase. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service has determined that it needs $120 million. Bush's request
is designed to create another Endangered Species Act listing
crisis next year when the money runs out. And it will run out very
quickly.
George Bush has listed only two species under the ESA since being
appointed president. Bill Clinton listed 41 during the same time
period. Both Bush listings were driven by petitions and suits by the
Center for Biological Diversity.
For more information on Bush’s fail attack on the ESA and what
you can do to save the Endangered Species Act budget, check out
the Center’s new ESA moratorium web page:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/bush-esa.html
“Safeguarding Citizen Rights Under the Endangered Species Act”:
new report by the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of
Wildlife, and the Endangered Species Coalition
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/bush-esa.html
250 scientists ask Congress to reject Bush extinction rider, increase
endangered species budget
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/bush-esa.html
300 environmental groups ask Congress to reject Bush extinction
rider, increase endangered species budget
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/bush-esa.html
Bush Proposes Drilling for Oil in Gulf of Mexico WASHINGTON, DC, July 5, 2001 (ENS) - The Bush administration has announced it will open a previously untouched 1.5 million acre span of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas drilling - the first new leases offered in more than a decade. The new energy exploration was tailored to avoid Florida waters, heading off conflicts between President George W. Bush and his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
WASHINGTON - 06.27.01 - Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) - member of the
Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity - to
Congress:
"In order to pay for his tax cut for the rich and reward his special interests allies in the oil and gas industry, President Bush cuts $2 billion from our nation's housing programs. Who is going to suffer? The answer is families, seniors, and persons with disabilities struggling to find an affordable, safe, and decent place to live."
Senate Bans Federal Lands Drilling - 7/11/01
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a fresh blow to President Bush's energy production plans,
the Senate voted today to bar coal mining and oil and gas drilling on federally
protected land in the West. The 57-42 roll call aligned the Senate with the
House, which voted last month to ban mineral extraction from the monuments
after Democrats there won support from moderate Republicans.
On the slippery slope - a European view of Dubya
Mr Bush's domestic problems multiply
Guardian Unlimited Newspapers - UK Having alarmed and angered America's overseas friends with his
policies on missile defence, climate change and energy, George Bush is
now well on the way to alienating domestic support, too. US voters,
most of whom did not back him in the first place, wonder what has
happened to the "compassionate conservative" the president promised to
be. His biggest legislative "achievement" so far, a regressive $1.35bn
tax cut, looks more profligate by the day. As federal revenues fall,
the administration may raid social security and Medicare funds,
earmarked for the poor, to finance tax windfalls for the wealthy.
Enforced belt-tightening is welcome if it helps rein in 2002 defence
spending increases, such as the $8.3bn sought for "star wars" missile
tests. But Dubya's economic stewardship is already in question as the
downturn sharpens.
Mr Bush's determination to fill top judicial posts with rightwingers
looks crass to an electorate still in shock over the Supreme Court's
connivance in the Florida fix. His blurring of church and state
through federal funding for faith-based charities, and his hardline
anti-abortion stance, may amount to more constitutional outrages in
the making. Nor is the early-to-bed, clean-cut Bush White House free
of Clinton era sleaze, with a senior aide currently fighting off
conflict-of-interest allegations. Indeed, if Democrats are to be
believed, the entire Bush administration is in hock to big business.
Hence its dislike of former Bush rival John McCain's Senate bill to
reform campaign finance.
Recent polls suggest Americans are deeply unimpressed. Mr Bush's job
approval is falling, down to around 50%. Moderates and independents,
the people who swing elections, say the president is out of touch with
ordinary people, far more rightwing than expected, too pro-business,
reckless of environmental concerns, and not the nice, trustworthy chap
people took him to be. In the wake of the Hainan spy plane affair,
more than half of all Americans doubt his ability to handle an
international crisis wisely.
Aware of the slippage, White House officials speak of a "next wave" of
proposals to regain the initiative. The Republicans' difficulty is
that, having lost control of the Senate through hilarious
incompetence, they are now on the legislative backfoot as the
Democrats advance popular, middle-ground measures such as a patients'
bill of rights, a minimum wage rise and new prescription drug
benefits. Mr Bush has a choice. He can veto such plans, confirming his
reputation as an uncaring conservative. Or he can ask House
Republicans to help him water them down. But this latter course
ignores another emerging political reality. Moderate Republicans in
Congress are quietly edging away from Mr Bush. With one eye on next
year's mid-term elections and another on his tumbling ratings, their
instincts are to stand back lest the bandwagon turns into a train
wreck.
The overall picture is growing clearer. Mr Bush is a seriously limited
man. If he has the political skills to be a leader for all Americans,
they are well hidden. In heartland USA, as abroad, a negative
impression of the Bush presidency is taking root. Once entrenched,
such perceptions are notoriously difficult to dispel.
And if that's not bad enough, a Republican bill, released Tuesday by the House
Resources Committee, would also waive royalties the government is paid by
PRIVATE oil companies for some offshore drilling leases to the tune of $7.4
BILLION. Isn't that a nice gift to the oil companies for their election
contributions to the Republicans in the last election?!
Wilson, Domenici do well opposing Bush on energy
July 19, 2001 - Have you noticed the energy and sweat exerted these days by key members of New Mexico's Congressional delegation as they quietly backpedal from the Bush administration's National Energy Plan? We have. And we encourage it. The future of the state, the nation and the world depend on it.
Senior New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, both Albuquerque Republicans, deserve an old-fashioned slap on the back for not being partisan parrots and mouthing the administration's energy nonsense
The proposals of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney threaten a secure energy future and ignore the torrid impact of fossil fuel burning on the Earth's rising temperature. The president's own scientific panel warns that global warming threatens economic, environmental and ecological disaster. Yet his policies not only ignore this but exacerbate it.
 
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