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> March 10, 2000:
Hour One: Environmental Politics
As the presidential race absorbs the aftereffects of Tuesday's mass of primary voting, the spotlight is shifting to two candidates -- Texas governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. After Bill Bradley dropped out of the Democratic race this week and John McCain suspended his bid for the Republican nomination, Bush and Gore began to campaign against each other in earnest, even though their official nominations will not take place until party conventions later this year. | Environmental issues may be one of the topics voters hear more about in the coming campaign -- ads criticizing the environmental record of Arizona Senator John McCain have already made an appearance in the primary racy. But just what is the environmental record of the remaining presidential candidates? On this hour of Science Friday, we'll take a look at the speckled records of both sides, and talk about what each candidate has proposed to do in the future. |  | "The Environment" definitely isn't a black-and-white issue. George W. Bush has pointed to improvements in air pollution levels in the state of Texas as a sign of his environmental friendliness. At the same time, though, EPA records indicate that Texas still has one of the worst air quality standards in the US. Al Gore has trumpeted his environmental record, holding up the Kyoto Protocol as a major achievement of the Clinton administration. However, a Gore-backed initiative released government-held petroleum reserves to Occidental Petroleum, potentially increasing the use of greenhouse gas fossil fuels.
Join us for this hour of Science Friday as we try to sort through the spin and talk about the facts behind the campaigns. Call in with your comments and questions - 1-800-989-8255.
| On the Issues: Kyoto Protocol on Global Climate Change | |
George W. Bush: "Efforts to improve our environment must be based on sound science, not social fads. Scientific data show average temperatures have increased slightly during this century, but both the causes and the impact of this slight warming are uncertain. Changes in the Earth's atmosphere are serious and require much more extensive scientific analysis. I oppose the Kyoto Protocol; it is ineffective, inadequate and unfair to America because it exempts 80 percent of the world, including major population centers such as China and India, from compliance. America must work with businesses and other nations to develop new technologies to reduce harmful emissions."
| Al Gore: "We have reached a fundamentally new stage in the development of human civilization, in which it is necessary to take responsibility for a recent but profound alteration in the relationship between our species and our planet. ... Our first step should be to set realistic and achievable, binding emissions limits, which will create new markets for new technologies and new ideas that will, in turn, expand the boundaries of the possible and create new hope. Other steps will then follow. And then, ultimately, we will achieve a safe overall concentration level for greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. "
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Guests:
Deb Callahan
President
League of Conservation Voters
Washington, DC
Kathleen "Katie" McGinty
Former Chairwoman
President's Council on Environmental Quality
Washington, DC
Charles Lewis
Founder and Executive Director
Center for Public Integrity
Author, "The Buying of the President 2000" (Avon Books)
Washington, DC
David Case
Reporter
TomPaine.com
Washington, DC
Books/Articles Discussed: Related Sites:
George W. Bush - Environment & Natural Resources - On The Issues
Gore 2000: The Environment
Scorecard Home
League of Conservation Voters
TOMPAINE.com: The Gores: The Sins of the Father and the Son
TOMPAINE.com: SOME LIKE IT HOT: The Story that Got the Media's Attention
TOMPAINE.com: George W.: Putting the Fox in Charge of the Hen House
TOMPAINE.com: Is He a Green Bush or a Brown Bush?
This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist |