George W. Bush - Environmental Champion

President receives prestigious award and takes opportunity to outline new environmental initiatives.  

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photo courtesy of the White House

In a brief ceremony held yesterday in his home state of Texas, President George W. Bush was named recipient of the annual Environmental Conservation Award by the Environmental Assessment League (EAL), for his outstanding work in the field of conservation as Governor of Texas and in his first few months as U.S. President. The award winner is selected each year through an extensive survey of environmentalists and scientist who assess the impacts and success/failure of programs and projects implemented during each administration. Among the survey of 20^th century US Presidents, Bush narrowly beat out Ronald Reagan for the top spot, while Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Bill Clinton received the lowest marks for environmental achievement.

In a brief speech following the award presentation, the president took the opportunity to address the issue of global warming, acknowledging that while it may be a real threat, he doesn’t support the Kyoto Treaty but favors a market-friendly alternative instead. "I am convinced that a compassionate conservative philosophy frees industrial plants to achieve their highest potential," he told those in attendance. “The answers to our environmental problems clearly require a solutions-oriented approach.  I am planning to sign legislation that will encourage industry to obtain air permits, but not require them to do so. I believe that if we give businesses major tax breaks and the opportunities to self-audit and clean up their own mess, they will step up to the challenge.”

President Bush went on to say that, while he appreciated receiving the award, that he didn’t intend to rest upon his environmental laurels, but intended to push forward with even more innovative initiatives. “I support more flexibility in environmental regulations. For example, I favor conserving wilderness areas by encouraging private citizens to take up wildlife management, rather than leaving everything to the federal government. If we eliminate the estate tax, it will make it easier for private landowners to spend money protecting the animals on their own land.” 

Among the projects and ideas put forth by Bush included his proposal to add aluminum overhangs to oil derricks planned for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As the President acknowledged, “this will give the animals on the refuge a chance to seek shelter from the rain and snow, and they’ll come to realize that living next to an oil derrick is really not such a bad thing.”

Bush also announced he was establishing a blue-ribbon panel that would include strong environmentalists such as Alaskan Representative Don Young, and Senators Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski, to help tackle some of the environmental issues. I selected these three great Alaskan congressmen in honor of the 12th anniversary of Exxon Valdez oil spill. I don’t intend to let a disaster like that happen on my watch. I mean, what happened to Exxon was a real tragedy," he said. "I’m going to ask congress to establish a cap of $50,000 as the most that any community can receive for an oil spill."

In support of Clean Air Act enforcement, the President took the opportunity to address criticism he had received for lowering carbon dioxide emissions standards. “As President, I know it is my responsibility to acknowledge the will of the people. Therefore, I am instructing Christine Todd Whitman, head of the EPA, to study the possibility of planting trees around all new power plants. These trees will absorb carbon dioxide and give us oxygen in return.” President Bush also called for a halt to basing environmental decisions on “fuzzy science.” “The liberal media would have you believe that we should lower the arsenic levels in drinking water. Next they’ll be telling you we should remove the hydrogen from the water and then the oxygen, until there is no water left at all.” 

The President also called on amending the Endangered Species Act to limit habitat protection requirements. “We have too many species on the Endangered List," the President acknowledged. "If we limit it to say, ten species, we can really concentrate on protecting those. And then, after a year or two, when they’re okay, we can choose another ten to put on the list to replace them.”

Bush also received high marks from the Environmental Assessment League for his recent plans to add an "environmentally friendly" T-ball field next to the White House and to enhance the National Trail System. The President had recently designated a new 714-mile historic trail to run from Washington, DC to Tallahassee, FL. Dubbed unofficially as the Bush Brothers Legacy Trail, the President said he was looking into the possibility of adding a connecting side trail to the Silverado Savings & Loan in Colorado, but decided to wait and see if it could be paid for using contributions from the National Rifle Association.

The award presentation ceremony in Austin had to be cut short after about 30 minutes, when several members of the crowd had to be treated for smog inhalation. The liberal media later blamed the incident on the fact that Texas had more than twice as many industrial plants violating clean air rules as any other state and that 93 plants in Texas did not comply recently with regulations to control volatile organic compounds. But Texas Representative Dick Armey, who was attending the ceremony, dismissed this explanation as “election hangover” by the Democrats. "It was my understanding that the people who passed out were actually just overwhelmed by some of the President’s ideas."

Happy April 1st!!

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