Democrats seek to reverse Bush environment acts
By Christopher Doering
March 28, 2001

WASHINGTON(Reuters) - Top Democratic lawmakers Wednesday threatened touse a rare congressional procedure to reinstate several environmental protectionrules rolled back by the Bush administration this month.

The battle between Democrats and Republicans over environmental and energymeasures threatens to be one of the most contentious brawls in Congressthis year.

Democrats and green groups launched a counter-offensive to White Housedecisions to suspend proposed rules that would limit arsenic in drinkingwater and curb mining waste.

President George W. Bush also made it clear that he opposes curbs oncarbon monoxide emissions from power plants -- key contributors to globalwarming -- and rejects an international treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

"The new president came to town saying he would change the toneand change the climate in Washington; I guess we didn't realize it was thereal climate he wanted to change," House Minority Leader Richard Gephardtof Missouri, joined by a slew of environmental groups, said at a news conference.

DEMOCRATS PLAN CHALLENGE

Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the former vice presidentialcandidate, said lawmakers could use the Congressional Review Act to challengeBush's environmental decisions.

The little-known law allows repealing a rule through a joint resolutionand a petition signed by 30 senators. It was recently used by Republicanlawmakers to overturn the Clinton administration's ergonomics rules.

"In the blink of an eye, one protection after another is being torndown without public comment. That has to stop," said Lieberman, a memberof the Senate's Environmental and Public Works committee.

"We think the (Congressional Review Act) may be able to undo someof the undoing the Bush administration has done," he said.

Democrats and green groups said the White House was too eager to easeenvironmental rules that could be costly for mining, oil, timber and otherindustries.

Since Bush became president barely two months ago, his administrationhas suspended or delayed several proposed environmental rules, citing theneed for more reviews or scientific studies.

The White House also has said strict and costly environmental rules arethe last thing the U.S. energy industry needs at a time when it is strugglingto meet domestic demand for electricity and fuel.

KYOTO TREATY ABANDONED

On Wednesday, a White House spokesman said Bush had abandoned the 1997Kyoto treaty to fight global warming because it could harm the U.S. economy.The president ordered a Cabinet-level review of global warming issues todevelop a U.S. view, the spokesman said.

Rejection of the Kyoto treaty -- a massive plan that has involved hundredsof nations over the past few years -- could have far-reaching consequencesfor U.S. economic and national security interests, the Democrats said.

Backing out of the protocol is out of "tune with the world's thinking"and will mark the United States as a "renegade," Lieberman said.

The Connecticut senator last week launched an investigation into theadministration's decision-making to overturn the arsenic and mining rulesand to delay a rule that would ban road building in forests for loggersand oil companies.

Lieberman asked the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, theInterior Department and the Agriculture Department for a detailed accountingby April 6 of their decisions on the arsenic, mining, and forest road constructionrules. That investigation will likely end in a Senate committee hearinglater this year, he said.

Environmental groups say Bush's recent actions may spell trouble forother environmental protection rules, such as limiting mercury emissionsfrom power plants or increasing energy efficiency standards for home appliances.

Calling it an "all out war on public health," Mark Helm, aspokesman for Friends of the Earth, charged Bush has ignored the public'senvironmental concern to please wealthy polluters who put him in office.

"We held out some hope (when he was elected) that he might havethe presence of mind to see the public cares about the environment,"said Helm. "But it has been a systematic disassembling of some of ourmost important environmental protections."