George Bush's position on

Environment: Key environmental issues in the 2004 campaign are air pollution, water pollution, public land preservation, contaminated industrial sites, and global warming or climate change. For a specific discussion of warming, follow this link.

Description of candidate's position: Bush plans to continue improving the environment by:

*Passing the "Clear Skies" initiative, a plan to amend the Clean Air Act by implementing a cap-and-trade approach to limiting sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury pollution. Clear Skies does not address carbon dioxide emissions.

*Completing the Clean Air Interstate Rule which will require the steepest emissions cuts in over a decade

*Water 2025 program will help the West improve water quality and provide more access to adequate water supplies

*Working with Congress, state, local, and tribal governments to advance oceans policy

*Continuing to carry out 5-yr program to address the maintenance backlog in national parks

*Pledging to create, improve, and protect at least 3 million acres of wetland over the next 5 years

*Carrying out the new authorities provided by the Healthy Forests Restoration Act to restore the health and vitality of forests and rangelands

*Furthering his commitment to reduce America's greenhouse gas intensity by 18 % by 2012

Quotation from the candidate: "I believe a responsible nation is one that protects the environment…I proposed what's called Clear Skies legislation. Clear Skies legislation will help cut power plant emissions. We're interested in reducing the nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury coming out of the power plants around America. We've put forth a plan…that will reduce those three key pollutants by 70 percent over a reasonable period of time. Instead of playing politics with environmental legislation, we need to come together and do what's right for American workers and American families. Clear Skies is good, sound legislation and needs to be passed." September 15, 2003, from the Bush website

Assessment of the proposal:

Positive: According to assistant secretary of the Department of Interior's Office of Policy, Management, and Budget, Lynn Scarlett, "What this administration is trying to do is move in a new direction -- beyond the punitive, prescriptive regulations of the last 30 years -- to include programs that engage local communities in environmental stewardship and stimulate markets in the direction of environmental innovation. I would say in the short time that this administration has been in place, we've done an awful lot. There's no end point here. This is a journey, not a destination."

Negative: League of Conservation Voters (LCV) President Deb Callahan had this to say about Bush, "For the past three years, President Bush has taken nearly every opportunity to rollback safeguards to protect our air, water and public lands…President Bush's continual support for a deeply flawed energy bill reconfirms why LCV gave him the first ever 'F' for his environmental record on our Presidential Report Card."

Comparison: Kerry is for progress without pollution; growing our economy while protecting our natural resources. Kerry's view is that our economy is best served by forward-looking environment policies that protect our health, our lands, and our jobs. Bush favors a market-based cap-and-trade system that will give companies incentives for following environmental controls. His goal is to have a pro-growth, a pro-job, and a pro-environment agenda.

Link to Kerry's issue page