If You Protect It, It Will Provide

That is our Earth, an undemanding lover and provider. I have maintained a belief that our life here truly is a very delicate chain that is left incapacitated by the neglect of even one small link.

I encourage individual responsibility in protecting our provider. Even for those who do so much, there is always more to do. Unfortunately, our provider is subject to legislation. It's treatment, be that respect and protection or ambivalence and abuse is determined by the philosophy behind the political power. This administration has proven to be a frightening keeper of our Earth. Please review and become outraged over these examples:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is prematurely closing a Midwest research library following proposed budget cuts by the Bush Administration, even though the cuts have yet to be approved by Congress. Approximately 27 libraries are subject to more than 80% in budget cuts.

In February, Bush's Interior Department announced a draft five-year offshore drilling plan that proposes opening up at least 2 million new acres in the Gulf of Mexico, plus tracts in Alaska's Bristol Bay and off the coast of Virginia that are currently off-limits.

Bush administration proposes to weaken the Clean Air Act. With an energy policy suspiciously crafted by undisclosed executives, air pollution regulations that protect industry's bottom line rather than citizens' health, and a Clean Water Act policy that eliminates 60% of protected waters and opens the surrounding land to developers. A Clean Water Act that allows water management districts to dump polluted water as long as they don't generate pollution themselves (a deliberate loophole that allows for Florida's Lake Okeechobee to be completely polluted and pose a serious health risk - closing arguments on this litigation were just a couple of days ago).

More aggressive efforts by this administration to enable drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Voluntary "Performance Track" EPA Program...yes, voluntary, self monitored. The program recognizes companies that have "high-quality environmental management systems". These so-called top environmental performers are rewarded with more lenient federal oversight, including looser hazardous-waste storage requirements, less frequent monitoring by the EPA of their air emissions, and placement on a "low-priority" list for routine inspections by EPA officials. The main problem with Performance Track is that Bush officials never imposed an oversight system to evaluate the performance of these supposed industry eco-heroes.

Our national parks are targets as well. The Bush Administration's National Parks Management Revision proposal effectively removes significant language about the importance of conservation above all else in park decisions.

A recent Bush administration decision aims to remove protection for Oregon Coast coho under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The Bush Administration proposal to roll back Americans' right to know about chemical hazards in their neighborhoods. The Administration's proposal would make it even easier for industries to pollute with hazardous chemicals in secret.

Past and Notable quotes by this administration that I had to include:

"If we are saying that the loss of species in and of itself is inherently bad -- I don't think we know enough about how the world works to say that."
-Interior Department Assistant Secretary Craig Manson, appointed by President Bush to position overseeing the Endangered Species Act, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 12, 2003

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."
-President Bush, Sept. 23, 2002, Trenton, New Jersey, speech

"First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense for the country."
-President Bush on the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty, Washington Post, April 24, 2001

"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."
-President Bush, Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000

Hmmmmm. Ok, shaking off those rather odd comments...

Stand up for our provider. Fight this administration's attempts to perpetuate the continued rape of our planet.

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