GOP Environment Platform Snubs Global Interests

Putting U.S. industry ahead of global environmental concerns, delegates to the Republican Party convention Monday approved a platform that closely follows presidential nominee George W. Bush's philosophy of environmental conservatism.

Highlights of the GOP platform:

• The government's main role: "We believe the government's main role should be to provide market-based incentives to innovate and develop the new technologies for Americans to meet -- and exceed -- environmental standards."
  
• Cleaning up brownfields: "We will use Superfund resources to actually clean up places where people live and labor, rather than waste it on costly litigation. The old approach of mandate, regulate, and litigate has sent potential developers away from brownfield neighborhoods. The result: no new businesses, no new jobs -- only dirty and dangerous sites."
  
• Greenhouse gases: The GOP continues to oppose the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 39 industrialized countries including the United States. "Its deliberations were not based on the best science," the draft says. "Its proposed agreements would be ineffective and unfair inasmuch as they do not apply to the developing world."
  
• Bioengineered crops: The platform emphasizes U.S. national interests over international interests, promoting free trade over trade agreements that would require environmental protections. The Republicans also pledged to "take action against any trading partner that uses pseudo-science to block importation of U.S. bioengineered crops."
  
• Proposed U.N. 'Stewardship Council': Republicans "reject the extremist call for the United Nations to create a 'Stewardship Council,' modeled on the Security Council, to oversee the global environment. Republicans understand that workable agreements will build on the free democratic processes of national governments, not try to bypass them with international bureaucrats." Instead, the Republicans support market mechanisms to promote green choices by private companies and international aid to promote sustainable resource management.
  
• Renewable energy: The platform supports clean coal technology, and tax credits for renewable energy sources including wind, biomass, ethanol, and solar. Yet the platform strongly emphasizes continued use of oil and gasoline, supporting drilling on federal lands including the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The document also criticizes the Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency for "shutting off America's energy pipeline with a regulatory blitz."

Democrats on the Offensive

In response to the Republicans' platform, the Democratic Party has launched new television commercials that attack the environmental records of GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush and running mate Dick Cheney. One targets Bush's record in Texas, while the other targets Cheney's Senate voting record.

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