| WASHINGTON
- August 27 - "The revelation that the White
House pressured the EPA into lying about the quality
of air near the 9/11 wreckage deserves the fury and condemnation of every New Yorker -- of every American," said Leslie Farney, candidate for Supervisor of the Town of Warwick, New York, just north of New York City. "The Bush Administration endangered the lives of thousands of people in lower Manhattan, especially the firefighters, construction workers, and others who heroically combed through the wreckage trying to save lives and recover bodies. This news should cancel any remaining doubt about the
White House's criminal deception and recklessness."
Greens across the United States called for an
independent investigation and criminal indictments for
White House, National Security Council, and
Environmental Protection Agency officials who
conspired to deceive the people of New York about the
unhealthy state of the air near the World Trade Center
site in the months after the attacks of September 11,
2001.
The EPA has admitted that it gave the public false
information, concealing knowledge of deadly airborne contaminants, under pressure from the NSC. Many people who worked or lived near the site have complained of health problems, especially respiratory difficulty.
Christine Todd Whitman, who served as EPA chief at the
time, assured New Yorkers that the air around the site
was not dangerous, knowing this to be inaccurate. In
fact, the air was contaminated with asbestos, fine
particles, lead, PCBs, dioxin, fiberglass, and other
dangerous substances. The EPA's misinformation saved
insurance firms such as Citigroup (which employed her
husband, John Whitman) hundreds of millions of dollars
from claims filed for respiratory illnesses caused by
the contaminated air.
"An honest government would have said, 'we don't know
what the risk is, but since we know there wereexposures to both particulates and mixed toxics, every
effort will be made to protect the health of the
emergency responders and residents of the affected neighborhoods,'" noted Carol Miller, a Green who taught courses in occupational health at the University of New Mexico for several years. "They could have required self-contained ventilation apparatus, provided clothing on-site so toxics were not taken home to family washing machines, and testing of workers as they finished shifts."
"It's no longer news that the Bush Administration has
deceived the American people over and over, especially
about the reasons to invade Iraq," said Paul Glover of
Ithaca, New York, who has announced his candidacy for
the national Green Party nomination for president. "A
few million Americans were vigilant enough to see
through the lies and protested the war, but most
citizens gave Bush the benefit of the doubt. They
called it their patriotic duty to back the president
during the war. But the lies are common knowledge
now. Hundreds of American soldiers have been killed,
along with thousands of Iraqi civilians. Greens and
other patriotic Americans have stood up and said
'Enough!' Who will join us? Where are the outraged
reporters and editors? Where are the Democrats?"
At its 2003 national meeting in Washington, D.C., the
Green Party of the United States called for the
impeachment of President Bush, citing the White
House's numerous violations of constitutional and
international laws and lies justifying the invasion: allegations that Saddam Hussein possessed ready-to-use weapons of mass destruction; that Saddam intended to use them and represented an imminent threat to the U.S.; that evidence existed proving a link between Saddam and al-Qaeda.
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