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THE REPUBLICAN BUDGET:
A TWO-PRONGED ATTACK ON THE ENVIRONMENT
October 13, 1999
In the Administration's balanced budget for fiscal year 2000, President
Clinton and Vice President Gore proposed significant new investments to
protect precious lands, clean our air and water, restore endangered
salmon and combat global warming. But the Republican majority in
Congress is again waging a two-pronged attack on the environment and
public health - cutting funding for these key priorities, while loading
budget bills with special-interest "riders" that would roll back
protections already in place. The President calls on Congress to fund
major environmental priorities - without spending the Social Security
surplus -- and to pass budget bills free of anti-environmental riders.
Shortchanging our Environment and Public Health
Protecting Precious Lands. The President's $1 billion Lands Legacy
initiative would protect coastal resources and natural treasures -
including the Everglades, Civil War battlefields, and the Mojave Desert
and provide communities with $434 million to protect urban parks,
farmland, forests, and other green spaces. But Congress has slashed the
President's request by two-thirds.
Leading the Fight Against Global Warming. The President proposed $1.4
billion, a 34-percent increase, to research and develop clean energy
technologies that save money and reduce greenhouse gas pollution. Yet
Congress is shortchanging these common-sense programs, as well as the
Global Environmental Facility, an international fund that invests in
clean energy and other environmental projects in developing countries.
Providing Clean, Safe Water. Congress is refusing to fully fund the
President's Clean Water Action Plan, which helps communities, farmers,
and other property owners curb dirty runoff and clean up waterways too
polluted for fishing and swimming.
Restoring Endangered Salmon. The President proposed a new $100 million
Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund to help state, local, and tribal
governments rebuild dwindling salmon stocks, and $60 million to begin
implementing an historic salmon recovery treaty with Canada. Yet the
Senate has provided nothing for the treaty, and the House nothing for
either initiative.
Rolling Back Protections through Backdoor Attacks
Once again, Congress has loaded up appropriations bills with
special-interest riders that aim to block progress or roll back key
environmental safeguards. Among other things, these riders would pave
the way for more logging on national forests; cripple endangered species
protections; short-change taxpayers by letting oil companies pay
below-market royalties on oil produced on federal lands; ease
restrictions on the dumping of mining wastes on public lands; and
hamstring common-sense efforts to reduce global warming pollution.