ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 19, 1996 TAG: 9602190096
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
THERE ARE what environmental lobbyists call congressional "stealth attacks" on environmental protection laws, and then there are full assaults. Neither got very far in Congress last year - but the war isn't over.
Sent in under the radar, in hopes of avoiding public attention, were riders attached to budget and funding bills that would do such things as block wetlands protection, allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, weaken enforcement of air pollution standards and virtually give away precious mineral resources on public lands. President Clinton to his credit vetoed the bills, but the fate of such provisions will still be unsettled as long as the budget remains unsettled.
A full assault on the Clean Water Act, passed by the House last spring, stalled in the Senate, but remains alive - as do all 20 pieces of major legislation introduced in 1995 aimed at rolling back landmark environmental protection laws, reports the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Environmental lobbies such as the council aren't likely to let votes on the legislation be cast quietly, though - and lawmakers are beginning to realize the breadth of public support for environmental protection. Polls show strong pro-environment sentiment among Democrats and Republicans alike, and even stronger sentiment among those coveted voters who identify themselves as independent.
Unfortunately, that's no assurance that anti-government zealots in Congress, acting as the servants of special business interests, can do no damage. The interim funding bill passed to crank the government back up during the budget impasse, for example, cut the Environmental Protection Agency's budget 30 percent, forcing sharp cuts in inspections, enforcement actions and scientific studies.
As for science, anti-regulation lawmakers seem to have adopted the disturbing attitude that if the scientific data support controls, trash the data. House Minority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas sneered that the international Nobel Committee awarded a "Nobel appeasement prize" in giving the 1995 prize in chemistry to two researchers who first identified the ozone threat to the stratosphere.
As long as "reform" means "repeal" in this Congress, such ideological extremism kills hope for the kind of rational, market-based regulatory reforms and improved, scientifically based risk assessment that really are needed.
LENGTH: Short : 48 linesby CNB