Open Spaces Campaign News

Providence, RI -- As they fight bumper to bumper traffic, long lines at airports and other holiday hurdles, vacationers may find that their 4th of July plans are at risk from much more serious obstacles, according to a new report released July 7, 2002 by the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group (RIPIRG) Education Fund. "America's Environment at Risk" details how big polluters have convinced the Bush administration to support policies that will degrade Rhode Island's favorite vacation spots, and threaten its overall quality of life.

Senator Reed, Senator Chafee, Representative Kennedy, Representative Langevin, RIPIRG, Sierra Club and Clean Water Action were all on hand at Burnside Park in Downtown Providence to urge protection of our environment and public health in Rhode Island and across the country.

"Rhode Island residents swimming at beaches like Scarborough State Beach, fishing at Watchaug Pond, and picnicking and playing sports at Roger Williams, Goddard Memorial and other local parks this weekend are at risk of losing these simple pleasures and more," said Kate Canada, Advocate for RIPIRG. "The polluters' assaults on the environment and public health don't just threaten our vacations; they promise to darken our skies, choke our lungs, and pollute our waters," continued Canada.

RIPIRG's report shows that behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny, the Bush administration has allowed polluters from the oil companies, electric utilities, the nuclear industry, the coal industry and the auto industry to water down or completely gut the cornerstone laws designed to protect the environment and public health in Rhode Island and across the country. The report documents 16 different ways in which the Bush Administration has allowed the polluters to degrade the environment and compromise public health in states across the country, including Rhode Island. Specifically, the report finds:

• The Bush administration recently announced a significant weakening of the Clean Air Act, long-lobbied for by the electric utilities, that could allow power plants in neighboring states, the South and the Midwest to actually increase their emissions of smog- and soot-forming pollution and toxic mercury. Already, dirty power plants cause an estimated 88 premature deaths and 1,600 asthma attacks each year here in Rhode Island.

"We've made too much progress over the past three decades to roll back our clean air laws now," stated Senator Jack Reed. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to stand up to the polluters and their friends in the Administration."

"The Bush administration brazenly invited corporate polluters to write its 'Clear Skies Initiative', which will allow even more air pollution than our existing clean air laws," said Sheila Dormody, Rhode Island director of Clean Water Action. "Given the lessons we should have learned from Enron, WorldCom and Xerox, it is astounding that the energy industry is being given a free pass. This time our air and water are at stake."

• The Bush administration, at the behest of the timber industry, has failed to implement a rule that would permanently protect many areas that Rhode Islanders enjoy visiting, including the Pemigewasset Roadless Area, which includes Mt. Lafayette, the highest peak in the Franconia Range in White Mountain National Forest.

"No Rhode Islander can live here without developing an appreciation for nature," stated Congressman James Langevin. "We are fortunate to have access to Narragansett Bay, beaches, parks and forests and I will work to protect this access to impressive natural areas in Rhode Island and across the country."

• Bowing to the political muscle of the auto industry, the Bush Administration actively opposed an effort this spring by the U.S. Senate to increase the fuel economy of cars and light trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2013. The 35 mile-per-gallon standard would have cut global warming pollution from transportation sources by 16% by 2020. In addition to these environmental benefits, the consumer benefits of increasing fuel economy standards are impressive, resulting in annual savings of $4 billion dollars for American consumers by 2013. In Rhode Island, consumers would have saved $13 million at the gas pump in 2013.

"With today's technologies, automakers could make cars and light trucks that go further on a gallon of gas, thereby reducing our reliance on oil and curbing global warming. Higher miles per gallon standards would also help stimulate our economy by saving consumers billions of dollars at the gas pump each year," stated Sarah Kite, Associate Representative of the Sierra Club. "However, the Bush administration opposes raising miles per gallon standards, putting big automakers first and our children and the environment second," Kite concluded.

The RIPIRG report draws from and expands on reports from a coalition of environmental groups including Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Parks Conservation Association, and the Wilderness Society.
"It's important to recognize that what's good for our environment can also be good for our economy," said Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.). "Here in Rhode Island, preserving our natural resources, particularly Narragansett Bay, is absolutely vital to our state's economic well-being. I will continue to work to preserve open space, push for more fuel-efficient vehicles, and restore abandoned industrial sites to protect our health and help grow the economy."

The threats to our environment keep coming each and every day. "Just yesterday, it was revealed that the Bush administration has designated 33 toxic waste sites in 18 states for cuts in financing under the Superfund toxic waste cleanup program. The cuts, imposed because the country's largest polluters have thwarted reauthorization of the "polluter pays" tax, mean that work is likely to grind to a halt on some of the most seriously polluted sites in the country," stated Canada. "As a result, communities in Rhode Island face uncertainty over when, and if, our sites will be targeted for slowdown. This is just one more example of how the Bush administration has allowed polluting giants such as General Electric, Monsanto, DuPont and Texaco to undermine the environmental laws designed to protect public health at the most local level."

"These are just a few examples of how Rhode Island's environment and public health are threatened by this unprecedented assault by the polluters," concluded Canada. "This Fourth of July, we are asking the American public to send a loud and clear message: Tell the Bush Administration to stop helping big corporations trample our environmental laws. Tell the Bush Administration that it's time to listen to the public, not the polluters."

The full report can be found on the web at www.ripirg.org