Search

Focuses on the environmental agenda of U.S. President George W. Bush's Administration and the Republican Party after Bush's re-election. Proposals to revamp laws on air pollution and endangered species; Energy bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration; Emphasis of the administration's environmental conservation efforts.

WASHINGTON -- The League of Women Voters is typically thought of as an earnest, civic-minded organization best known for hosting sober candidate debates and distributing studious voter guides to keep the citizenry informed. But two senators facing elections discovered this month that the group had decided to take its informational role to an entirely new level. Senators Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, and Scott P. Brown, Republican of Massachusetts, found themselves on the receiving end of a hard-hitting, big-money television campaign taking them to task for votes to limit the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that it would not require power plants or other industrial sites to obtain federal pollution permits for emitting greenhouse gases before next January. The statement formally affirms an agency announcement last month that it would phase in the regulation of climate-altering gases over several years, starting with the largest sources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it intended to ban the use of the pesticide carbofuran, citing its harmful effects on children and the environment. The agency said the risks associated with exposure to carbofuran in food and water exceed levels established by the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. In 1991, Congress banned the granular form of the pesticide, which was blamed for the deaths of more than a million birds. In humans, the pesticide can cause long-term damage to the body's neurological and reproductive systems. The chemical is used to combat pests that feed on rice, cotton, corn, soybean and sugar cane crops, particularly in China; the agency says it is not widely used in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Comments on the legislative struggle to look for ways to improve fuel economy in cars and address the environmental problems associated with automobiles in the U.S.

Reports on the delay of a legislative bill promoted by New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey which aims to protect almost a million acres of natural resources in the northwestern part of the state.

Criticizes the Bush administration's policy on counting fish, and its attempt to circumvent the Endangered Species Act. Protection of the habitats where endangered species live; Elimination of the distinction between wild salmon and hatchery salmon.

Reports on the petition by North Carolina to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce other states in the U.S. to cut down power plant pollution. List of U.S. states petitioned for clean air; Estimation of EPA regarding nation's population who will be living in areas in violation of the Clean Air Act; Expected date for the agency to respond to North Carolina's petition.

Reports on the plan of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release proposals that closely track the amendments of U.S. President George W. Bush to the Clean Air Act. Identification of the main pollutants released from burning fossil fuels; Expansion of the current pollution trading systems for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides; Criticism regarding the proposals.

Examines the environmental policy of the United States President George W. Bush administration. Similarity of Bush's approach to that of former President Ronald Reagan's; Efforts to tie environmental protection to other goals, such as economic growth and increased energy production; Role of regulation in implementing these policies; Overview of major changes in the areas of air, water, land, energy and global climate; Policy shapers; Criticism of regulations. INSET: Policy Shapers, Well Known and Little Known.

Reports on the legal challenge filed by nine states in the Northeastern U.S. to air-pollution rules for power plants and other industries. Concern that these rules would bring more acid rain, more smog, more asthma, and more respiratory disease to Americans; Defense of the rules by the Environmental Protection Agency; Opinion of the nine states that the rules represent the most serious effort at rolling back the Clean Air Act.