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Save the environment...from Democrats!

The continued hypocrisy of Senate Democrats was once again on display as they stomped their feet and threatened to hold their breath over the confirmation of Utah governor Mike Leavitt because of President Bush's supposed anti-environment stances. Democrats, however, could not list any policies which have actually harmed the environment. Instead they simply associated business friendly decisions by the EPA as "anti-environment", still clinging the Luddite belief that progress in technology or business by definition harms the environment.

Democrats would rather the EPA concentrate on junk science like global warming, which Senator Lieberman said is causing snow in New Hampshire...in late October. Not only do Democrats utilize junk science to forward their distorted environmental policies, but they oppose true progress in fields like clean, renewable energy. Democrats living in Cape Cod oppose an offshore wind farm that could provide the area with most of the electricity it needs.

Senator Lautenberg whined "Do we really want to return to the days when rivers caught fire and people literally keeled over from air pollution?" He is apparently unaware of the fact that the most famous river fire, on the Cuyahoga River in the summer of 1969, came after almost a decade of Democrat rule in the White House (and thus environmental policy at the national level), and that the sitting Republican President responded by signing laws like the Clean Water Act and creating the Environmental Protection Agency. To hear Democrats, you would think that the EPA was created by them and that they are the only party to have signed environmental legislation into law.

Another area where Democrats have been all whine and no substance is on the issue of EPA regulations on modernization of industrial plants across the United States. The Bush EPA has taken the reasonable stance that if a company is delaying modernization of their plants (and thus delaying installing more energy-efficient equipment) because of EPA regulations that require them to install new equipment throughout their plants then the EPA needs to modify their regulations to allow a company to install better, more modern equipment as long as net pollution does not increase. Obviously a plant that installs equipment that uses less energy, but may not reduce emissions, is lowering the overall amount of pollution in the environment. Leavitt stated that the EPA will pursue, "a higher and more meaningful level of cooperation and the application of new technologies" on this issue. The Democrat stance that upgrading a plant be an all-or-nothing affair is both unreasonable and harmful to the environment as plants will continue to waste energy by using old, inefficient equipment.

Examining the stances of the Democrats on environmental issues one can see that the true aim of their policies is to punish companies and not protect the environment. Just as the Luddite/socialist groups that pretend to be fighting for the environment but in reality are anti-capitalism, the Democrats have adopted a policy of using the EPA to punish companies instead of protecting the environment. This should not come as a surprise to anyone since both groups are run by the same kind of people: people who put their own political agendas ahead of the environment.

Despite the smoke and mirrors of Democrats on this issue, the choice is pretty clear for voters. They can support the party that chooses to balance the interests of industry (which provides jobs), people (who need jobs) and the environment or they can support the party that uses junk science to promote policies of dubious environmental benefit that will most assuredly destroy jobs and make economic life harder for Americans.

The choice is pretty clear, just like the river water of today compared to that of the era when Democrats ran things in Washington.

Democrats, however, could not list any policies which have actually harmed the environment.

Senator Lieberman said [global warming] is causing snow in New Hampshire...in late October.

the most famous river fire, on the Cuyahoga River in the summer of 1969, came after almost a decade of Democrat rule in the White House....

What kind of person supports and votes for this kind of political party?