THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
I read with interest ``The greening of the right'' (news, April 21), which reports that religious leaders are taking a more-active role in saving the Earth and protecting God's creation. Amen!
Indeed, polls repeatedly indicate that an overwhelming majority of Americans want strong environmental regulations in place to keep our water clean, the air safe to breathe, and plants and animals safe from extinction. Yet Congress has attached language to the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for FY96 that would roll back many of our most-important environmental safeguards.
The most-damaging ``rider'' attached to this spending bill undermines important protections for our nation's wetlands by removing the authority granted to the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act to veto permits granted by the U.S. Corps of Engineers to dredge and fill wetlands. The Corps itself does not want solo authority over wetlands permits and supports EPA's role as protector of the environment in the permitting process.
This attempt to rewrite some of the most-important laws on the books through the budget process amounts to nothing short of a stealth attack. Resorting to backdoor tactics is an irresponsible attempt by our lawmakers to push through legislation that is so unreasonable it would probably not survive the scrutiny of the normal legislative process.
Congress should drop the riders and show that it is serious about leaving future generations the healthy, safe environment that God gave us.
KIRKLAND T. CLARKSON
Norfolk, April 21, 1996 by CNB