|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friends of the Earth
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 21, 2003
1:11 PM
|
CONTACT: Friends of the Earth
Sara Zdeb, 202-783-7400, ext. 220
Brent Blackwelder, 202-783-7400, ext. 284
|
|
|
|
Friends of the Earth: Whitman Resignation Leaves Legacy of Polluted Water, Dirty Air and Unhealthy Communities
|
|
|
| WASHINGTON
- May 21 - As EPA administrator
Christie Whitman announced her resignation, Friends of the Earth
today criticized her agency for overseeing the weakening of
critical health and environmental protections.
"Christie Whitman played a moderating role at times, but the
facts are clear: the Bush EPA has made our water more polluted, our
air dirtier and our communities more at risk from toxic dumps,"
said Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth. "As
unsatisfactory as her leadership was, evidently it was still too
pro-environment for the Bush administration."
During her first year in office, Friends of the Earth became the
first national environmental group to call for Whitman's
resignation. The group urged her to step down in 2001, saying that
her credibility had been damaged beyond repair by the
administration's decision to block tougher standards for arsenic in
drinking water and to abandon the Kyoto global warming agreement.
Environmental groups have subsequently criticized Whitman's
agency for dismantling an array of longstanding environmental laws.
During the past two years, EPA has signed off on a rule allowing
polluters to dump industrial waste into waterways and proposed a
Clean Air Act change that would allow the nation's dirtiest power
plants to expand. The agency has also cut the number of toxic
cleanups in half and dramatically reduced its enforcement of
pollution control laws, and is currently considering a Clean Water
Act change that would remove 60 percent of streams from protection
under the law.
Friends of the Earth pointed to these regulatory changes as part
of a larger pattern, where administration officials use
administrative procedures and budget cuts to surreptitiously weaken
laws that enjoy broad public support. The group predicted that
Whitman's replacement would continue using these tactics to pursue
more environmental rollbacks.
###
|
|
|
Common Dreams NewsCenter is a non-profit news service
providing breaking news and views for the Progressive Community.
The
press release posted here has been provided to Common Dreams NewsWire by
one of the many progressive organizations who make up America's Progressive Community.
If
you wish to comment on this press release or would like more information,
please contact the organization directly.
*all times Eastern US (GMT-5:00)
Making News?
Read our Guidelines
for Submitting News Releases
© Copyright
1997-2003 Common Dreams.
www.commondreams.org
|
|
