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WASHINGTON - February
16 -
TEXAS IS AMERICA'S
MOST POLLUTED STATE
In 1999, Houston
overtook Los Angeles as America's smoggiest city. Texas ranks first
in toxic releases to the environment, first in total toxic air emissions
from industrial facilities, first in toxic chemical accidents, and
first in cancer-causing pollution.(1)
GOV. BUSH IS
NOT FIGHTING TO CURB TEXAS'S POLLUTION
Federal laws such
as the Clean Air Act are forcing industries to cut pollution, but
air quality in Texas continues to decline.(2) Rather than adopting
tough laws to reduce pollution from aging facilities, Gov. George
W. Bush asked industry to draft their own regulations to pre-empt
legislative action. After a briefing by the industry insiders who
wrote the plan, DuPont official Jim Kennedy noted that the voluntary
industry proposal, had "no `meat' with respect to actual emissions
reductions. One of the [business] leaders actually stated that emissions
reductions was not a primary driver for the program."(3)
The result of
Bush's voluntary policy has been that only 15 percent of the 760 so-called
"grandfathered" plants have signed up for the voluntary program.(4)
According to the Dallas Morning News, "[Bush's] voluntary anti-pollution
initiatives have produced only marginal improvements."(5)
When Time Magazine
issued a report card on issues, Bush's pollution record received a
D: "Bush let industry write an anti-pollution measure, and believes
voluntary plans, not regulation, can clean up the air and water. No
wonder Texas has a world-class pollution problem."(6)
BUSH APPOINTEES
THREATEN OUR ENVIRONMENT
In Texas, Bush
appointed oil and petrochemical executives to the state's environmental
agency, leading to restrictions on citizen participation in pollution
permitting and weaker enforcement. Six times, the TNRCC has been brought
to court for denying public hearings-- and the TNRCC has lost every
time.(7)
One of Bush's
environmental advisors, Terry L. Anderson, advocates selling all our
public land. In Anderson's blueprint for auctioning off all public
lands, he wrote; "`What special provisions, if any, should the divestiture
plan make for the Grand Canyon and similar National Parks, monuments,
forests, and wilderness areas?' [Anderson] asks. `One possibility
would be to specify no restrictions at all.'"(8)
BUSH SPEWS ENVIRONMENTAL
RHETORIC...
"You've got to
ask the question, `Is the air cleaner since I became governor?' And
the answer is yes." -- Gov. Bush, press conference, May, 1999 As quoted
in The Washington Post, October 15, 1999
...BUT TEXANS
KNOW THE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTS
"Despite roars
of approval from the campaign trail, Gov. George W. Bush has a potential
Achilles' heel for his trek to the White House: his environmental
record." -- San Antonio Express-News editorial, October 24, 1999
"The environment
is developing as a potent political issue for the 2000 presidential
race. Much of the reason has to do with Mr. Bush's vulnerability on
the issue. Seven Texas metropolises... either exceed the federal standards
for lung-scorching ozone or are on the verge of doing so." -- Dallas
Morning News editorial, November 14, 1999
TEXAS AIR POLLUTION:
Under Gov. Bush,
Texas's air has gotten dirtier, not cleaner. For the majority of Texans,
air quality has substantially diminished under the Bush Administration.
Two-thirds of Texans-- 12 million people-- live in the state's top
eight urban areas. From 1990-94, they suffered 508 eight-hour ozone
violations, from 1995-99 under Bush, this jumped to 679 violations,
a 34% increase.(9)
In 1999 this
pollution led to Houston passing Los Angeles to claim the dubious
title as the nation's smoggiest city. And it's not just the number
of days -- it's also the intensity. On Houston's smoggiest day, the
air was nearly 50 percent dirtier than the air on Los Angeles's smoggiest
day.(10) In addition, a 1999 City of Houston study shows that air
pollution alone may have caused at least 435 premature deaths and
as many as 1,196 new cases of chronic bronchitis annually.(11)
Bush inherited
a solution, yet he exacerbated the problem. The Houston Chronicle
reports that from 1987 through 1994, "despite continuing population
and economic growth," the air in Houston became cleaner due to "the
introduction of new pollution controls." However, since 1994, when
Bush was elected governor, the number of smoggy days has increased
by 20 percent.(12)
In 1999, Texas
suffered seven of the nation's 10 highest one-hour ozone levels, and
15 of the top 30.(13)
TEXAS WATER POLLUTION:
Texas leads the
nation in the number of factories violating clean water standards.(14)
The state ranks
third in the nation for surface water discharges, dumping nearly 21
million pounds of toxic chemicals into streams, ponds and surface
water. The U.S. EPA found swimming impaired in 27 percent of Texas
rivers; 5 percent do not support aquatic life.(15)
Texas leads the
nation in injecting toxic waste into underground wells, disposing
60 percent more toxic waste into injection wells than any other state.(16)
Injecting toxic waste into the ground can potentially poison local
drinking water supplies.
On January 1,
1995, only one Texas body of water had a fish ban triggered by high
levels of mercury. By January 1, 1999, that number had soared to 7.(17)
BUSH'S ENVIRONMENTAL
SPIN AND THE FACTS:
SPIN: "Texas
leads the nation in reducing toxics by 44 percent in the last decade.
Governor Bush was the first governor in Texas history to say to older,
grandfathered unpermitted plants: It's time to clean up." -- Scott
McClellan, Bush Campaign Spokesman Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, October
20, 1999
FACT: Texas
has reduced toxic chemicals emissions at about the same rate as the
national average due to the Federal Clean Air Act of 1990.(18) As
the Dallas Morning News said, "[Bush's] irrefutable claim that toxic
emissions are down owes to measures the federal government put in
place before he became governor."(19)
Yet, despite
the benefits the Clean Air Act has had on Texas, Bush's appointees
have attempted to weaken the law. According to the Boston Globe, "[E]ven
as the administration of Governor George W. Bush talks about tough
actions, Texas lobbyists are trying to seriously weaken one of the
US Environmental Protection Agency's strongest tools to prod states
to clear the air: the power to stop highway construction in polluted
areas."(20)
SPIN: "Mr. Bush
said the best way to achieve clean air and water was `to work with
local jurisdictions using market-based solutions and not try to sue
our way or regulate our way to clean air and clean water.'" -- New
York Times, November 9, 1999
FACT: Bush's
actions led to one of the biggest environmental lawsuits in state
history when he killed an auto inspection and maintenance plan for
Houston in 1995. His actions broke a state contract with Tejas Testing,
which sued Texas and won $136 million. The money came from funds intended
for environmental enforcement and higher education.(21)
SPIN: "Texans
agree with Governor Bush's reasonable and balanced approach toward
protecting our environment, which has resulted in a 10 percent reduction
in industrial pollution, Texas leading the nation in reducing toxics,
and legislation that will reduce emissions by 250,000 tons per year."
-- Mindy Tucker, Bush Campaign Spokeswoman Houston Chronicle, October
20, 1999
FACT: Texans
do not agree with the Bush approach. In an editorial, the San Antonio
Express-News criticized Bush's pollution scheme: "Bush refused to
back legislation (which failed) that would have forced Texas' oldest,
dirtiest power plants to clean up. Instead, the governor backed voluntary
measures, asking owners of the air-polluting plants to clean themselves
up. Few have, nor will they without a regulatory stick to make them
do it."(22)
For further information
on George W. Bush's environmental record, please read, "The Polluters'
President?" from Sierra Magazine: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/199911/bush.frame.html
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DOCUMENTATION
1. a) Texas ranks
first in toxic releases to the environment (US EPA Toxics Release
Inventory Database, 1990-97); b) first in total toxic air emissions
from industrial facilities (US EPA Toxics Release Inventory Database,
1990-97); c) first in toxic chemical accidents (Compiled from EPA
Emergency Response Notification System database); and d) first in
cancer-causing pollution (US EPA Toxics Release Inventory Database,
1990-97 using the EDF website <scorecard.org> to research the
data).
2. 1-hour ozone
violations jumped to 321 in 1995-99 from 309 in 1990-94. (Ozone data
from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission website, City
of Houston's Bureau of Air Quality, NESCAUM's website on US ozone
data, US EPA AIRS database).
3. Sierra Magazine,
November/December 1999
4. TNRCC data
as reported in by the Christian Science Monitor, November 12, 1999.
5. "Cleaning the
Air," editorial, Dallas Morning News, November 14, 1999.
6. "Bush in Texas,"
Time Magazine, February 21, 2000
7. Excerpt from:
"For Bush, `green' is a subtle hue," Christian Science Monitor, November
12, 1999, "All three of Bush's appointees to the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission, which regulates industrial emissions and
water quality, come from the oil and petrochemical industry. The result
is that of 79 public requests for hearings from 1996-99, 63 were denied.
8. "Sunday In
The Loop: Coming Soon: Grand Canyon Inc.," Washington Post, January
30, 2000.
9. Ozone data
from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission website, City
of Houston's Bureau of Air Quality, NESCAUM's website on US ozone
data, US EPA AIRS database.
10. EPA and TNRCC
data based on EPA's "Guideline for Reporting of Air Quality--Air Quality
Index (AQI)"
11. Study by the
City of Houston as reported by the Houston Chronicle, May 4, 1999.
12. "Houston faces
ozone deadline," Houston Chronicle, January 9, 2000
13. 1999 ozone
data from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission website,
City of Houston's Bureau of Air Quality, NESCAUM's website on US ozone
data, US EPA AIRS database.
14. EPA Permit
Compliance System data, compiled by U.S. Public Interest Research
Group, 1999.
15. EPA Toxics
Release Inventory Database, 1990-97.
16. EPA Toxics
Release Inventory Database, 1990-97. The next highest state, Louisiana,
injects 52 million pounds of toxic waste into injunction wells, while
Texas injects 83 million pounds.
17. Texas Department
of Health. High mercury levels are generally tied to air emissions,
particularly from coal powered electric generating plants. The bodies
of water in Texas with mercury advisories are in the rea of coal plants.
The body of water witha ban (LaVaca Bay) was polluted by direct industrial
discharge.
18. The rate of
reductions in Texas of total air emissions of chemicals on the Toxics
Release Inventory is roughly the same as the rest of the country.
From 1990-97, Texas emissions fell 40.3% vs. 43.3% for the rest of
the country.
19. "Cleaning
the Air," editorial, Dallas Morning News, November 14, 1999.
20. "Reconciling
Air and Car in the Lone Star State," Boston Globe, December 16, 1999.
21. Tejas Testing
won $136.8 million, Dallas Morning News, April 5, 1997.
22. "Bush Must
Improve Environmental Record," editorial, San Antonio Express-News,
October 24, 1999.
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