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African Students Association Presents
SOUL OF THE MOTHERLAND
A cultural exploration of Africa
Bush, Kerry use Earth Day
to put focus on environment
Despite the candidates'
rhetoric, analysts debate
the environment's impact
on the presidential race
By Bill Lambrecht
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (KRT)
WASHINGTON — With a woody
backdrop in Maine and a promise to
preserve wetlands, President George
W. Bush worked Thursday to blunt
one of the clearest distinctions be
tween presidential candidates this
year — their environmental records.
The president and his Democratic
challenger, Sen. John Kerry of xMassa
chusetts, both used Earth Day to
make appeals on conservation issues,
even though voters may be paying less
attention to the environment than in
recent election campaigns.
But both Kerry and advocacy
groups intend to raise the profile of
the environment in the coming
months in hopes that voters will be
gin focusing again on issues other
than terrorism, the Iraq war and the
economy.
In Missouri, Democratic activists
gathered on Kerry's behalf at 12 loca
tions Thursday night in St. Louis,
Kansas City, Jefferson City, Springfield
and Columbia to talk about environ
mental issues.
The president, after touring a na
ture preserve in Wells, Maine, near his
family's Kennebunkport compound,
declared that his administration
would "create, improve and protect"
more than 3 million acres of wetlands
over the next five years.
"The old policy about wetlands was
to limit the loss of wetlands. Today
I'm going to announce a new policy,
a new goal for our country, instead of
just limiting our losses, we will ex
pand the wetlands of America," Bush
said.
Bush's new commitment marks a
departure from some of his policies
during his administration. For in
stance, the White I louse has support
ed several water projects that would
damage wetlands, among them the St.
Johns Bayou/New Madrid Floodway
project in the Missouri Bootheel.
That Mississippi River flood con
trol project would drain at least
18,000 acres of wetlands; it has been
approved by the Army Corps of En
gineers and is undergoing final state
review.
A recent National Wildlife Federa
tion study calculated that 29 pro
posed water projects, the Bootheel
project among them, threaten
640,000 acres of wetlands and fragile
areas near shorelines.
The Army Corps of Engineers,
which administers a key government
wetlands program, approves the vast
majority of requests from developers
and others to fill wetlands, according
to government figures.
In the future, the president said,
that the corps and other federal agen
cies would restore and create at least
1 million areas of wetlands in five
years. Grants to farmers under last
year's farm bill will help preserve an
other 1 million acres toward the goal
of 3 million.
In Houston, Kerry called the presi
dent's wetlands plan "a smoke and
mirrors game ... For the last 3 years
this administration, this president,
had a proposal that would have lost
us 20 million acres of wetlands."
Kerry spoke in the president's home
state during a three-day campaign
swing in which he has campaigned
heavily on environmental issues.
Kerry is a favorite of environmental
advocacy groups with a 96 percent
League of Conservation approval rat
ing during his 19 years in the Senate.
Polls also show that voters continue
to give Democrats a higher rating than
Republicans on their ability to handle
environmental issues.
But environmental issues aren't reg
istering heavily with voters this politi
cal season, in part because of the pub
lic's focus on war and terrorism, along
with general concerns about the econ
omy and jobs.
A Gallup Poll published earlier this
month found sharp declines in the
president's ratings on environmental
and energy issues. On environmental
issues, 46 percent of Americans said
the president was doing a poor job
compared with 41 percent who said
he is doing a good job. That finding
reflected a 10 percent decline in the
president's positive rating.
Bush's positive rating on energy
had plummeted from 58 percent to
34 percent since 2001.
Nonetheless, political analysts like
Stuart Rothenberg question how
much the environment will matter to
voters.
"When times are good and the na
tion is at peace, people have the time
and the inclination to talk about
health care, the environment and is
sues affecting their lives," he said.
Rothenberg observed that environ
mental issues might work the best for
Kerry among certain groups of voters
in swing states. "We're talking about
political and social moderates, partic
ularly suburban women and people
there who are concerned with kids
and the quality of their lives," he said.
Karlyn Bowman, an analyst with
the conservative American Enterprise
Institute, pointed to polls showing
that environmental problems rank
near the bottom on a broad list of vot
er concerns.
"I see a lot of evidence in surveys
that people are becoming light
greens.' (Their) commitment is the
same, but they're just not willing to
do more in terms of environmental
activism particularly at the national
level," she said.
Deb Callahan, president of the
League of Conservation Voters, argued
that Kerry can elevate the environ
ment in voters' minds. "In a presiden
tial election, the issues that the presi
dential candidates talk about are the
issues that people think about," she
said.
Her organization, along with sever
al others, announced this week that it
will try to raise the profile of environ
mental issues by mobilizing 25,000
volunteers to knock on 1.5 million
doors in four swing states — Florida,
Wisconsin, New Mexico and Oregon.
Riley Dunlap, a sociologist who
studies public opinion on environ
mental issues, said that the groups
have at least a chance to succeed.
"They are going to keep pounding
away, and it might be said that Earth
Day is their launch. Their efforts, com
bined with the fact that Kerry is
viewed much more favorably than
Bush on these issues, raises the possi
bility that the environment could be
a moderately significant issue in No
vember, more than most people think
right now," he said.
(c) 2004, St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/
Tribune Information Services.
4 on 4 VoHeybal Tournament!
f Friday April 23rd
University Commons
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Feed, Drinks & Prises!
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SWAT SUMMER
Earn a $300 stipend, learn
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difference on campus!
Perform a fun, interactive
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prevention for IntroDucktion
Rehearsals start June 14
with performances in July.
018902
SWAT FALL
Receive two upper-division (400 level) credits per term, work with
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