Leavitt (EPA) Claims Mandate for Bush Environmental Agenda

[baby_bear]

http://www.lcv.org/News/News.cfm?orgid=Insider%20111104&ID=3441&c=27

<snip>
President Bush has captured a mandate for his environmental policies in the wake of this week's election victory, U.S. EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said today.
...
Leavitt said the election offers the Bush administration a mandate on its environmental positions, even though many of those ideas have been widely criticized for being too friendly to industry.

Bush's victory this week marked a major blow for environmental groups that had invested heavily in the campaign of Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry (Mass.). With GOP gains in both chambers of Congress, many expect the Bush administration and its Republican legislative allies to go even further in their push to increase domestic energy production and reform major environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act.
...
</snip>

s_m

[pmbryant]

1. Well, let's write to the Leavitt and the media to let them know otherwise

Bush didn't talk about the environment coherently once that I recall. Was it ever mentioned in his stump speeches?

No mandate there!

--Peter

[livinbella]

2. bush is what you would call....a good steward of the environment

didn't you watch the deabates :)

[baby_bear]

3. Writing to Leavitt is worthless

...but letters to the editors or guest columns could be helpful, as is joining and contributing to legitimate and influential environmental groups and encouraging them to act in synch to fight some of these battles.

Also, writing regularly to your senators and representative in D.C. can be helpful (depending on who your representatives are).

One other thing: encourage your state governor and legislature to enact legislation (such as action on global warming, and reduction of mercury emissions) without waiting for the federal government to "do the right thing," which it will never do under Bush. This sends a powerful message to D.C. and humiliates them to boot.

I'm open to other ideas.

s_m

[blindpig]

6. for that matter Kerry didn't have much to say either

even though he owned the issue. Letting the enemy set the agenda, frame the issues, is one of the lessons of this election.

[atommom]

4. Oh, no, not "Reform" again. As someone here at DU pointed out,

"reform" means "you're about to get screwed"!

We definitely can't afford to let them pursue their agenda without a fight. I've seen no sign of a coherent environmental policy from Bush. If anything, he's hostile to the whole concept of preserving the planet. It makes me wonder if he has bought into the "end times" scenario, and thinks we might as well use it all up now... :nuke:

[kestrel91316]

5. IMHO there is absolutely no point in.....................

writing to ANY Republican in the administration or Congress about any problems with *s policies. Their minds are made up and they are NOT going to be bothered by facts.