Presidential Candidates Take Different Environmental Tacks

By Cat Lazaroff Environmental News Service GOP Presidential candidate George W. Bush talks about the environment, but Al Gore has done more to improve it WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina - Presidential nominees Al Gore and George W. Bush took a civil tone Wednesday night in the second of three scheduled debates, finding common ground on foreign policy questions, but clashed over questions about the environment and several domestic issues. Debate moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS opened the debate with foreign policy, and the two candidates generally agreed on questions of national security, sending U.S. troops abroad and the current crisis in the Middle East. But as the debate turned to domestic issues, the two men found familiar reasons to disagree: on health care, domestic violence, hate crimes - and the environment. Democratic candidate Al Gore said the major differences between the two candidates are in the manner in which they would confront environmental challenges. In Gore’s opinion, the two candidates "have a very different outlook." "I'm really strongly committed to clean water and clean air and cleaning up the new kinds of challenges like global warming," said Gore. "I am in favor of tax cuts to encourage and give incentives for the quicker development of these new kinds of technologies. "We differ on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," Gore noted, which the Democratic nominee has said he would keep off limits to oil and gas exploration. The vice president argued that the solution to high energy prices is promoting alternative power sources and energy efficient technology. "If we take the leadership role and build the new technologies, like the new kinds of cars and trucks that Detroit is itching to build, then we can create millions of good new jobs by being first into the market with these new kinds of cars and trucks and other kinds of technologies," Gore said. Republican candidate George W. Bush countered that the U.S. needs to expand its domestic oil and gas exploration, even in wilderness areas, and called for additional natural gas pipelines to tap reserves in Alaska. The Texas governor’s energy policy emphasizes home grown technologies using U.S. resources, including coal. "I think we need to have clean coal technologies," Bush said. "I've proposed $2 billion worth," in his energy plan. On land preservation, Bush criticized the Clinton/Gore administration for taking "40 million acres of land out of circulation without consulting local officials," referring to President Bill Clinton’s order to the U.S. Forest Service to preserve roadless areas of national forests. "It's not the way I would have done it," said Bush. "Perhaps some of that land needs to be set aside, but I certainly would have consulted with the governors and elected officials before I would have acted unilaterally." "I think both of us care a lot about the environment," Bush concluded. "We may have different approaches. We may have different approaches in terms of how we deal with local folks." Local input on environmental decisions has been the hallmark of Bush’s environmental policy. Bush again touted his state’s voluntary emissions control program for older industrial and power plants. "I don't believe in command and control out of Washington, DC," Bush said. "I believe Washington ought to set standards, but … I think we ought to be collaborative at the local levels. And I think we ought to work with people at the local levels." "We differ on whether or not pollution controls ought to be voluntary," Gore countered. "I don't think you can get results that way." "I'm not for command and control techniques either," Gore said. "I'm for working with the groups, not just within industry, but also with the citizens groups and local communities to control sprawl in ways that the local communities themselves come up with." Gore also noted that the two candidates "differ on the kinds of appointments that we would make," a subtle warning that Bush would be unlikely to appoint the type of conservation minded officials that now head the Departments of Agriculture and Interior. Another major area of disagreement for the debaters was global warming. "I think that in this 21st century, we will soon see the consequences of what's called global warming," Gore said. "There was a study just a few weeks ago suggesting that in summertime the north polar ice cap will be completely gone in 50 years. Already many people see the strange weather conditions that the old-timers say they've never seen before in their lifetimes. And what's happening is the level of pollution is increasing, significantly." Gore has said he would make reducing climate change one of the principal tasks of his administration. Bush said he wants to wait for scientists to be more certain about the causes and solutions of global warming before acting. "I think it's an issue that we need to take very seriously, but I don't think we know the solution to global warming yet," Bush said. "And I don't think we've got all the facts before we make decisions." He reiterated his opposition to the international Kyoto accords. The Kyoto Protocol, an add-on to the United Nations climate change treaty, mandates greenhouse gas emissions limits for 39 industrialized countries including the United States. But the treaty excludes developing nations. "I tell you one thing I'm not going to, is I'm not going to let the United States carry the burden for cleaning up the world's air, like the Kyoto treaty would have done," Bush said. "Before we react, I think it's best to have the full accounting, full understanding of what is taking place." "I disagree that we don't know the cause of global warming," said Gore. "I think that we do. It's pollution, carbon dioxide, and other chemicals that are even more potent but in smaller quantities, that cause this." "I'm a grandfather now. I want to be able to tell my grandson, when I'm in my later years, that I didn't turn away from the evidence that showed that we were doing some serious harm," Gore said.

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