Obama: Restore Environmental Regulations

[Ethelk2044]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3233040


Sen. Barack Obama vowed Thursday to restore environmental protections the Bush administration has rolled back through executive orders, especially at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Obama said the EPA has been "demoralized


The Democratic presidential hopeful from Illinois also said he intends to spend significant time campaigning in Nevada because the state with an early Jan. 19 caucus date is representative of a Western region he said is the key to the nation's future.

And he predicted he could compete with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York by appealing to rural voters.

Making his third appearance in Nevada, Obama said much of the Bush administration's weakening of environmental regulations has been accomplished through administrative orders without congressional action.

"That means President Obama can reverse them by executive order," Obama told reporters after a speech to about 4,000 at a downtown Reno park on an island in the middle of the Truckee River.

"I think the slow chipping away against clean air and clean water has been deeply disturbing. Much of it hasn't gone through Congress. It was done by fiat," he said. "That is something that can be changed by an administration, in part by reinvigorating the EPA, which has been demoralized"

Obama added: "When you've got folks at the top who are not serious about enforcing environmental laws, then all through the civil service people get discouraged."

[mckeown1128]

1. This is just another example of quality leadership!!