Liberty Matters News Service
April 25, 2001
John Carlisle, director of the Environmental Policy Task Force of the National Center for Public Policy Research, writes in the Houston Chronicle that there may be nothing left for the environmentalists to worry about. Mr. Carlisle lays out a few examples of America’s improved environmental health and surmises the self-styled shrill watchdogs may have little to bark about in the near future.
- Water
quality has significantly improved.
In 1997, the volume of oil spilled in U.S. waters declined by
two-thirds compared to 1996, making 1997 the year with the lowest amount
of oil spilled in the nation’s waters since 1973.
- Automobiles
are the cleanest in history.
- Forests
are improving as well. Net
tree growth has exceeded harvest every year since the 1950’s.
- Today’s
jetliners are much more fuel-efficient than older models.
The Boeing 777 has nearly the same passenger capacity and range
capability as the 747, but burns one-third less fuel.
America’s
industries are proving that it is possible to be environmentally
sensitive and economically prosperous, a fact which may soon leave
environmentalists without their bread and butter.
But Bruce Hamilton of the Sierra Club believes they can still
stir up public emotions. “One effect of the environmental movement over the last 30
years is that environment issues have become more intangible.”
Or, as Mr. Carlisle puts it;
“… perhaps it is the case that some of those ‘intangible’
environmental problems simply don’t exist.”
Rep. James Hansen (R-UT), Chairman of the House Resources Committee, has formed a bipartisan committee, the Endangered Species Act Working Group, to identify problems with the ESA in an effort to find solutions to the unwieldy law that is increasingly used by the unscrupulous to wreck human lives and which does virtually nothing to save threatened and endangered species. Mr. Hansen cited Endangered Species horror stories that demonstrate “this ham-fisted law frightens private land owners, intimidates businesses and often turns the public against the very species it aims to keep from extinction.” It is estimated that over $5 billion taxpayer dollars have been spent on enforcement of the ESA and that the money has virtually gone down a kangaroo-rat hole.
Mr.
Hansen likens the current situation to that of the IRS a few years ago,
when agents routinely ransacked peoples’ homes, seized their property
and ruined their lives. The
ESA must be reformed because “… as is often the case with Washington
mandates, the law is flawed.” When
has reforming a bad law ever worked?
Now that the Resource Committee finally agrees with landowners
that the law has done more damage than good, they ought to consider
repealing the ESA.
EPA chief,
Christie Todd Whitman told “Face the Nation” that Vice President
Cheney’s energy task force did not specifically “say you must drill
in ANWR,” and that “we didn’t recommend that to the president.”
She was responding to a Time magazine article that said the White
House would not seek the congressional consent needed to open the refuge
to drilling. The White
House immediately set the record straight.
Ari Fleischer, White House spokesman, said on Monday, “The
president’s position is as it always has been,” and that plans are
going forward to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil
exploration. Mrs. Whitman
ran aground on another issue last month when she announced the president
was committed to reducing the levels of carbon dioxide, when in fact,
the opposite was true.
Bush Task
Force Will Recommend Alaska Drilling
Ban
On Snowmobiles to Remain
Clinton’s last
minute ban of snowmobiles in two national parks will be allowed to go
into effect after all. President
Bush has decided not to challenge the regulations that will outlaw
snowmobiles in the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks by the
winter of 2003. That
doesn’t mean, however, the administration has completely abandoned
those unique recreation activities.
Interior and Justice Department lawyers are trying to negotiate
settlement of a lawsuit brought by snowmobile manufacturers and others,
which may mean cleaner, less noisy machines can be operated in the
parks. Republican lawmakers
are trying to rework winter management plans for Yellowstone to make way
for the snowmobiles.
Bush Backs
Ban On Snowmobiles in 2 Wyo. Parks