Gore Denounces Bush, McCain on Environment

 

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Subject:   Gore Denounces Bush, McCain on Environment------
Date:       Fri, 25 Feb 2000 18:36:31 -0500
From:        Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Lyndon Hawkins <hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
          State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
          Integrated Pest Management

Lyndon, I thought you might like to read a Reuters article entitled: Gore denounces Bush, McCain on environment.

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Reuters) - Vice President Al Gore, uncertain who will be the Republican presidential nominee, lashed out at Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain Thursday, calling both of them proven threats to the environment.

In accepting the endorsement of a New York state conservation group, Gore for the second day in a row lumped the two leading Republican presidential candidates together as one over an issue important to Gore's campaign.

Flanked by members of the New York League of Conservation Voters on the banks of the Hudson River, Gore said McCain of Arizona and Bush have both failed to protect the air, water and ground, often to the benefit of industrial polluters.

Gore, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, noted that in 1998 the League of Conservation Voters, a national group, gave McCain a rating of ``zero'' for congressional votes on behalf of the environment.

The vice president said under Bush's leadership, Texas ``has become number one in pollution of the air, pollution of the water and pollution of the ground.''

In summing up McCain and Bush, Gore said, ``A zero record of support for the environment in the Senate, on one hand, and number one in giving the polluters what they want to the detriment of our citizens, on the other hand.''

The 4,000-member New York League of Conservation Voters, in endorsing Gore's White House bid, cited his leadership, while vice president and a member of Congress, on the environment -- from cleaning up toxic waste dumps to opposing oil drilling on endangered grounds.

WILL STEP UP EFFORTS

``You ain't seen nothing yet,'' Gore pledged, saying if elected president he would step up his pro-environmental efforts despite opposition by special interest groups.

``I wear their attacks as a badge of honor, just as I wear your endorsement as a badge of honor,'' Gore said.

John Adams, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Gore's only rival for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination, also has a strong pro-environmental record.

``The key difference is leadership,'' Adams said, maintaining the vice president has been a more consistent and able leader.

Bradley's campaign, in a statement, noted Bradley had a much higher rating from the League of Conservation Voters than Gore, 84 percent to 64 percent, while they were in Congress.

The League of Conservation Voters, a separate entity from the New York League of Conservation Voters, has not made a presidential endorsement, but has decided Gore and Bradley are ''good friends of the environment,'' said Lisa Wade a spokeswoman for the group.

``We also decided that George W. Bush would be the greatest threat to the environment,'' Wade said.

HOPES TO FINISH BRADLEY

Having already beaten Bradley in New Hampshire and Iowa, Gore hopes to effectively finish him off March 7 when New York, California, Ohio and 13 other states hold presidential contests that will award nearly a third of the delegates to the party's presidential nominating convention.

A New York Times/CBS survey released Thursday found Gore leading Bradley in New York state by a more than two-to-one margin, 59 percent to 28 percent.

In recent days, Gore has opened verbal fire on both Republicans, saying McCain and Bush are out of step with mainstream America. On Wednesday he criticized their health care policies.

Gore, in an interview published Thursday in USA Today, insisted he does not have a preference about which one he would rather face in the general election.

``I've jokingly said that if I am the Democratic nominee, I would prefer to run whichever one losses,'' Gore said. ``But I think both of them are going so far to the right that they're on the warning track, heading full speed for the wall.''

Gore disputed the notion that McCain is less conservative than Bush.

``I think they're two peas in the same pod,'' Gore said. ''They both want to take away a woman's right to choose. They both want to drain away money from public schools. They're both part of the same crowd that wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. They both have risky tax schemes.''

Later Thursday, in visit to The Village of New Square, New York, a community of about 1,000 orthodox Jewish families, Gore, for the first time in two days, made no mention of Bush or McCain.

Instead, the vice president, hailed by Jewish leaders as a friend of Israel and a champion of the disadvantaged, spoke of the need for all to come together. ``Let's plant the seeds of peace and prosperity for all of our children,'' he said.

Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters Limited content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters Limited. Reuters Limited shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Well Lyndon, it really amazes me how Republicans seem to love pollution rather than protection. What political persuasion are you?

Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten

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