Statement on Clean Air Plan February 7, 2007
Posted by jenmarie in 2004 platform, environment, jobs, science/tech.comments closed
New Hampshire
December 9, 2003
~ snip ~
Today I would like to focus on one element of our environment – the air we breathe.
Our atmosphere sustains life. Though the atmosphere seems cast from the Earth’s surface it’s actually quite thin. If you walked ten miles, you will have walked the expanse of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, throughout most of our modern history, we have treated our atmosphere as a dump for airborne industrial byproducts.
America’s efforts to address air pollution are in many ways a great success story. In 1970, concerns about the health toll of air pollution led to the passage of the Clean Air Act. It was a landmark legislative achievement and a product of bipartisan cooperation, pushed by Democrats in the Congress and signed into law by a Republican president.
Under the Bush administration, the bipartisan cooperation that led to this landmark achievement has broken down. We lack the leadership necessary for such an outstanding environmental achievement. Instead, the President is moving relentlessly to dismantle environmental protections and undo a generation of progress.
His so-called “Clear Skies” legislation, for instance, would weaken public health protections against dangerous soot, smog pollution and toxic mercury.
Airborn mercury eventually settles in water, enters the food chain and is ingested by people. It attacks the brain and nervous system, poses special risks for pregnant women and damages the immune and cardiovascular systems of adults.
~ snip ~
My Clean Air Plan will improve America’s health and America’s economy. Compared to the Bush administration’s policies, my Clean Air Plan will prevent more than 100,000 premature deaths and more than two million asthma attacks through the year 2020.
Specifically, my four-part plan will:
- Set tough standards for the worst sources of air pollution, starting with electric power plants;
- Crack down on corporate polluters;
- Use American technology and market-based approaches to meet air pollution challenges with innovative, job-creating solutions; and
- Restore trust in the environmental stewardship of the White House.
Power plants produce huge amounts of air pollutants that threaten the health of millions. To protect the health of all Americans, I will set tough new standards for power plants, such as those in Senator James Jeffords’ Clean Power Act.
We must also act aggressively to reduce air toxins. I will fully implement the Clean Air Act, set new national standards for the most dangerous pollutants, and revoke the Bush Administration’s efforts to allow older plants to continue polluting at high rates even as they undertake massive expansion.
Plus, I’ll put the environmental cop back on the beat.
100 Year Vision February 7, 2007
Posted by jenmarie in 2004 platform, national goals.comments closed
By Wes Clark
Looking ahead 100 years, the United States will be defined by our environment, both our physical environment and our legal, Constitutional environment. America needs to remain the most desirable country in the world, attracting talent and investment with the best physical and institutional environment in the world. But achieving our goals in these areas means we need to begin now. Environmentally, it means that we must do more to protect our natural resources, enabling us to extend their economic value indefinitely through wise natural resource extraction policies that protect the beauty and diversity of our American ecosystems — our seacoasts, mountains, wetlands, rain forests, alpine meadows, original timberlands and open prairies. We must balance carefully the short-term needs for commercial exploitation with longer-term respect for the natural gifts our country has received. We may also have to assist market-driven adjustments in urban and rural populations, as we did in the 19th Century with the Homestead Act.
Clark Slams Media Consolidation January 6, 2004
Posted by faithinwes in 2004 platform, media reform.comments closed
Another Democratic presidential candidate is speaking out against further media consolidation. General Wesley Clark says measures to protect localism and promote diversity in media ownership need to be reinstated, according to a report in AdAge.com. He was apparently referring to a series of federal media ownership rules that were either dismantled or rewritten by the FCC last June, much to the benefit of large media companies. The new rules are on hold pending the outcome of a court case brought against the FCC by the Prometheus Radio Project and the Media Access Project.
Speaking on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, Clark told an AdAge.com reporter that media consolidation “is damaging to putting out diverse opinions and fostering public dialogue. … We need to distribute the ownership in media. We need to have the fairness in broadcasting rules put back in place.”
Last fall, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said he would work to reign in the power of conglomerates that dominate both the production and distribution of news and entertainment.
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has also made media reform part of his campaign platform, issuing a proposal to reinstate media ownership limits and promote the growth of non-commercial, community-based media.
Let a woman and her doctors decide about reproductive health November 25, 2003
Posted by faithinwes in 2004 platform, civil liberties, health care.comments closed
On reproductive freedom: Every woman deserves complete information about and access to birth control so that families can be planned and so that every child is a wanted child. I will oppose measures that interfere with the ability of a woman and her doctors to make choices about her reproductive health.
Source: Campaign website, Clark04.com, “An Agenda for Women” Nov 25, 2003
