Bush an environmentalist phony
President damages nation’s health by going back on word to clean up

By Jordan Blum
Skiff Staff

Mmm ... arsenic. The poisonous element isn’t usually on the forefront of our minds, but it may be soon as we continue to swallow unsafe drinking water.

The Environmental Protection Agency is fighting to reduce the arsenic standard to five parts for every billion, which would be significantly down from the current 50 parts set in 1942. Of course, this standard was set long before we were made aware of all the potential dangers.

Former President Bill Clinton compromised with the EPA to set the standard at 10 parts for every billion, but President George W. Bush rescinded the Clinton regulation last week.

In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences found that arsenic in water can cause lung, bladder and skin cancer and might even lead to liver and kidney cancer as well.

Remember that the next time you’re drinking your 50 parts of arsenic. No wonder water is considered to be the healthiest drink available.

It’s nice to think that President Bush isn’t a personal fan of poisons and cancer, but it seems to go without saying that Bush has become — and apparently always was — a mere puppet of big business when it comes to environmental issues.

Those wonderful energy corporations have bought Bush again, and unfortunately the EPA doesn’t do enough to help Bush get re-elected to buy legislation off of him.

Sadly, this is only the most recent in a rabid string of environmental cutbacks the good president has made since entering office.

President Bush also recently reversed a campaign promise to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, which are viewed as a major reason for global warming — not that a politician would ever intentionally lie.

Not only that, but Bush has been quoted as saying that our national parks would be perfect for oil drilling.

The U.N. Kyoto climate treaty is also on Bush’s agenda of environmental destruction. Since developing nations aren’t currently required to reduce pollution emissions, the treaty was designed to set international standards and emission limits. Fortunately, Bush showed he isn’t as biased towards the United States as he showed a willingness to pollute all of the world by flat-out rejecting the treaty.

Granted, the treaty isn’t perfect and could harm the U.S. economy as Bush says, but our president hasn’t even shown a willingness to compromise on the issue. The White House claims it will issue an alternative, but it has been pushed off indefinitely, so far. Also, Bush rejected another U.N. treaty that would have limited greenhouse gas emissions internationally.

The next Bush-led environmental attack looks to focus on using the “energy crisis” shield as a means to help the energy companies by likely repealing an EPA ruling requiring plants to slash mercury emissions.

National Wildlife Foundation scientist Mike Murray said in an article on the MSNBC Web site (www.msnbc.com), “A drop of mercury as small as one-seventieth of a teaspoon every year can contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point that the fish in it are unsafe to eat.”

A typical power plant emits about 50 pounds of mercury a year. It doesn’t seem one has to resort to calculus to consider the catastrophic potential.

In Bush’s defense, at least it seems his tax plan may soon pass without compromise just in time to aid the needy wealthy in the currently weakening stock market.

So next time you and your family vacation in Yosemite National Park to observe the beautiful oil drilling, while you are feeling the effects of global warming, inhaling heavy doses of carbon dioxide, soaking in some ultraviolet light, (deep breath) eating some tasty mercury-flavored seafood and, of course, sipping on some arsenic, be thankful for that extra $200 you got back in taxes over the past few years.

Jordan Blum is a sophomore broadcast journalism major from New Orleans.
He can be reached at (j.d.blum@student.tcu.edu).

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