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| Public Interest Watchdog Group Exposes Industry-Led Sneak Attack on Environment
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WASHINGTON
- September 15 - After a summer when communities across the country have gone through the
worst droughts and heat waves since the dustbowl, Congress is poised to
block measures that could curb global warming, according to a report
released today by U.S. PIRG. The report, “Sneak Attack:
Exposing Congressional Riders that Attack Our Environment and Public
Health,” identifies at least 40 anti-environmental “riders” attached to
must pass spending bills.
“This summer’s extreme weather is a dramatic preview of what global
warming could do,” said Lexi Shultz, a staff attorney with U.S.
PIRG. “But the auto industry and its congressional allies are
ignoring this wake-up call and are instead waging a sneak attack on
measures that could curb global warming,” she added.
One of the best ways to curb global warming is to reduce auto pollution
by increasing miles-per-gallon standards. For example, if the
miles-per-gallon standards for Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and light
trucks were increased to the levels required for other cars, 187 million
tons of global warming pollution could be prevented, and consumers could
save $13.6 billion at the gas pump every year, according to an earlier
U.S. PIRG report.
Despite these savings, a lobbying group called the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers, formed by Ford, General Motors, Daimler Chrysler and other
auto companies, has run newspaper ads pushing members of Congress to
oppose upgrading miles-per-gallon standards.
The auto industry also lobbied Representative Wolf (R-VA) to sponsor a
legislative provision that will block any attempts to increase these
standards. Rather than expose this anti-environmental legislation
to the light of public scrutiny, however, Rep. Wolf has hidden it as a
“rider” on the Department of Transportation spending bill, hoping that
this provision will just “ride” along with the must-pass spending
bill. The Senate may vote today on whether to accept a similar
rider on the Senate version of the bill.
Another rider, authored by Senator Hutchison (R-TX) and supported by
Senator Domenici (R-NM), would allow the largest oil companies to
continue to underpay, by $66 million a year, the royalties they owe the
American public for drilling on public lands. These royalties fund
state public education programs, environmental programs like the Land and
Water Conservation Fund and the National Historic Preservation Fund, and
the Treasury.
Earlier this week, Senator Hutchison (R-TX) was unable to garner enough
votes to overcome a filibuster by Senator Boxer (D-CA), but Senator
Hutchison may attempt to attach the rider to the Department of Interior
spending bill in the next couple of days.
“The Senate’s decision to reject the oil royalty rider, at least for now,
is a real victory for schoolchildren, taxpayers, and the environment,”
noted Shultz.
“Sneak Attack” exposes several other sneak attacks on our environment and
provides data on the state-specific impacts of these riders, including
dirty air, global warming pollution, mining pollution of our lands and
waterways, harm to our National Forests and endangered species, wetlands
destruction, and wasted taxpayer dollars. Overall, there are now at
least 40 attempts by polluters to weaken our environmental and public
health protections, with more threatened.
“These sneak attacks will drain precious wetlands and the Treasury.
They will flatten forests and demolish mountains. They will
contaminate the environment as they contaminate the democratic
process,” said Shultz.
The polluting industries that will benefit from these riders have been
wielding their influence in Congress. For example, coal and oil
companies contributed $25 million, and electric utilities gave more than
$12 million, to congressional candidates from 1991 to 1997.
In the next month, Congress will vote on bills containing
anti-environmental riders. President Clinton has repeatedly
promised to veto bills over these harmful provisions.
The group applauded the efforts of members of Congress in both Houses who
worked to oppose anti-environmental riders, and criticized the
congressional backers of the riders.
“We call on Congress to protect the public interest by rejecting these
attacks on our environment and public health. We call on President
Clinton to keep his promises to use his environmental veto pen when these
sneak attacks on our health and environment hit his desk,”
concluded Shultz.
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