Facts (some little known) about Kerry's record on the environment

[ProSense]

First, Senator Kerry. Now you can disagree over the significance of his record on the environment during his years of service as an elected official, but John Kerry has one. And the record begins during a period in his life that hasn't gotten much attention -- a period after Vietnam, after he was a prosecutor, but before he was elected to the U.S. Senate. The time was 1982, the place was Massachusetts. The environmental issue of the day was acid rain, and people were still coming to terms with it. Dianne Dumanoski was an environment writer for the Boston Globe at the time.

DUMANOSKI: Acid rain was a really dominant issue. We had lakes – actually we still have lakes -- that were acidified and had lost their fish, there's been widespread damage to the forests in New England

Snip...

DUMANOSKI: He sort of became the point person on acid rain and was the person that was doing all this organizing and collaborating with the other governors and the Eastern Canadian provincial heads of government. And there was actually a treaty that was signed in '83. It was actually the first agreement on acid rain. It really predated the agreements in Europe and this actually later became the blueprint for the provisions in the Clean Air Act that didn't get passed until 1990.

CURWOOD: Dianne Dumanoski credits Kerry with developing a strong grasp of this complex issue, in which pollutants are carried by the wind from the Midwest to the U.S. and Canadian east. Bob Turner also covered the earlier career of John Kerry and is now deputy editorial page editor at the Boston Globe.

Snip...

http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=04-P13-00030#feature1

Senator John Kerry has stood up to polluters and been a champion of protecting human health and the environment during his entire career in public office.

He spoke at the first Earth Day in Massachusetts in 1970. As Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Kerry chaired an Acid Rain Task Force and issued a "Call for Action" on the topic of air pollution. As a Senator he has championed the cause of conservation, been a leader in the fight against polluters and blocked the Bush Administration's efforts to reverse 30 years of environmental progress.

From clean air to clean water to toxics to public lands to energy, we can count on John Kerry to provide leadership, vision, and solutions so that all Americans can have a clean, safe, healthy environment.

John Kerry on Clean Air

John Kerry has been a leader in the fight for clean air since before his election to the U.S. Senate in 1984. In his first year as a Senator, John Kerry introduced the National Acid Rain Control Act to improve standards and create a fund for clean air. He has continued to work for cleaner air since then, defending the Clean Air Act against weakening in 1990 and more recently opposing the Bush Administration's attempts to weaken the Clean Air Act's New Source Review rules. John Kerry opposes President Bush's plans to increase the allowable toxic mercury pollution in our air, and as President would immediately reinstate Clean Air protections weakened under the Bush Administration.


John Kerry on Clean Water and Drinking Water

John Kerry has consistently pushed for strengthening protections for our nation's waters and drinking water. In his first year in the Senate, John Kerry sponsored a bill to help states clean up water quality problems due to acid rain. He was a vocal opponent of the Bush Administration's attempt to weaken drinking water standards for arsenic, and he pushed for the Bush Administration to repeal a dangerous proposed rulemaking that would have removed 20 million acres of wetlands from Clean Water Act protections. He opposed federal funding for polluting factory farms that are a major source of water pollution. Kerry also opposed Bush's proposal to allow coal companies to shave off mountaintops and bury the rivers below under tons of mine waste in violation of the Clean Water Act.

http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/presidential_endorsement/factsheet_kerry.asp

Kerry Says Bush Undercuts Environment

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER

Published: April 21, 2004

BAL HARBOUR, Fla., April 20 — Senator John Kerry accused the Bush administration Tuesday of "playing dirty" in what he described as its undoing of 30 years of environmental regulation, and declared that ocean pollution was jeopardizing Florida's vital tourism industry.

As Mr. Kerry opened a three-day push on the environment timed to the observance of Earth Day, this Thursday, his campaign also worked to play down two new polls that showed President Bush's standing with voters improving relative to the senator's, even after a month of damaging news for the White House.

Across the state from here, with dolphins surfacing in the waters of Tampa Bay behind him and a seagull shrieking overhead, Mr. Kerry gave a spirited defense of environmental advocacy.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/politics/campaign/21KERR.html?ex=1397966400&en=fe7d4b2e6d615d2b&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND

October 29, 2004

Kerry and the Environment

Few senators have a better track record on the environment than John Kerry, and he has a solid plan for protecting it. So why don’t more people know that?

The League of Conservation Voters has strongly endorsed Kerry, who has earned a 92 percent rating from the organization over the course of his Senate career -- among the highest ratings the League has ever awarded. (For comparison, "Earth in the Balance" author Al Gore scored only a 64 percent rating from the League). Kerry’s green credentials obviously stack up well against George Bush's; the president has earned an "F" rating from the Sierra Club, managed to avoid getting the endorsement of Republicans for Environmental Protection and compiled the worst environmental record of any modern U.S. president.

more...

http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/10/10_517.html

Kerry rally's support for pro-environment Democratic candidates (recent e-mail):

Dear

You know what our mission is -- to drive to victory on November 7 by using our online strength to give key Democratic candidates grassroots help they couldn't even imagine getting in the past.

This week, we're focusing on a handful of races across the nation that are absolutely critical to the environment. We're out to take back the Congress and defeat Republican candidates who have sold out the environment whenever it really counts.

Support pro-environment Democratic candidates now.

Yesterday, we helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for three critical House challengers: Ron Klein in Florida, Francine Busby in California, and Darcy Burner in Washington state. Today, we've added a new candidate to the list -- Linda Stender who is running in New Jersey's 7th Congressional district. Linda is not only a strong environmental candidate, she has also fought to protect the right to privacy and she has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's failed policies in Iraq.

Linda has led fights in her county to pass the Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, create the area's largest tree replacement program, and develop a new program to improve the appearance of county property. Protecting our environment and making America energy independent are two of her key priorities when she gets elected.

I told you earlier that two of the GOP incumbents we're out to defeat, Clay Shaw and Dave Reichert, had identical 28% voting records on the League of Conservation Voters' scorecard. Linda's opponent, Mike Ferguson, is even worse. In the last session of Congress, he voted pro-environment only 17% of the time.

All 3 of these Republican incumbents have voted to open up the Arctic Refuge to drilling, gut funding of environmental protections for clean water and environmental conservation, and sell off our public lands to the big mining companies. We can't continue to let this happen.

Support pro-environment Democratic candidates now.

We have these anti-environment Republicans on the run. Let's keep it that way. Help build an unstoppable momentum for our environmental slate of candidates. Donate to one or more of our candidates right now.

Let's give them the strong support they need to win.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. In addition to providing direct support to our candidates, don't forget to also include a donation to Keeping America's Promise in support of our broader efforts to help shape the outcome of these vitally important elections.

[blm]

1. Mother Jones Mag raised the real question - WHY don't people know this?

Because the corporate media does not WANT people to know what they should to make informed decisions.

ProSense, I'd change the subject line to LITTLE KNOWN facts re Kerry on the environment.

[MADem]

2. The only ones who know it are Massachusettsians

I remember Kerry at that first Earth Day, as well as the acid rain issue, which was a hot topic of the day.

[_dynamicdems]

3. And these..... during 2004, I might add...but the MSM didn't give it much

air time. They were too busy reporting terrorist alerts.

John Kerry Seizes Earth Day Theme to Hammer Bush
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
April 20, 2004

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200404\POL20040420a.html

(CNSNews.com) - The John Kerry for President Campaign says the senator will mark Earth Day with a "three-day series of events highlighting his plan for a clean environment."

At stops in Florida, Louisiana and Texas this week, Sen. Kerry will emphasize that a healthy environment and strong economy go hand-in-hand, his campaign announced. He also will attack what his campaign called the "polluter-friendly policies" of President Bush.

"A healthy environment is critical to the strength of our economy and our nation," Kerry said in a press release. "Under President Bush, we have seen a devastating deterioration not only in our economy but in our public health and safety." The press release did not give specific examples.

Kerry said he believes that the economy and the environment go hand-in-hand, and that through "strong environmental protections we are a stronger nation."

In Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Kerry will join former EPA Secretary Carol Browner to discuss clean water and its impact on the economy. On Wednesday in New Orleans, Kerry will travel to Louisiana's coastline to meet with sportsmen and environmental leaders. Kerry will celebrate Earth Day, Wednesday, at a rally in Houston, Tex., which is among America's smoggiest cities. more... http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200404\POL20040420a.html

and this...

Bush Takes a Back Seat
By SEN. JOHN KERRY
http://www.time.com/time/2002/greencentury/enkerry.html

Posted Sunday, August 18, 2002; 7:31 a.m. EST
Americans are an optimistic people—especially when it comes to protecting our environment and public health. Our nation has made extraordinary environmental progress over the past 30 years, which helped, not hurt our economy. Americans believe renewed leadership and technological innovation can once again protect our air and water and create a strong economy for all our citizens.

That same optimism and common sense is in short supply in our politics today. The Bush Administration has succeeded in "changing the tone" back to the days of pessimism, when partisan politics pitted businesses against clean air and water. It has turned the environmental agenda over to big polluters, denouncing even modest reforms as technologically impossible and economically ruinous. These doomsday predictions aren't new: if Richard Nixon had believed polluters' grim fairy tales, he never would have put an end to the days when lakes and rivers literally caught fire.

Nowhere is presidential leadership more lacking than in the debate over global warming. It took the Bush Administration 16 months to acknowledge what scientists have known for more than a decade: the same pollution—primarily from fossil fuels—that causes asthma and respiratory illness is also altering and warming the atmosphere. Refusing to address climate change may bring unprecedented environmental damage to the health and well-being of people throughout the world. more... http://www.time.com/time/2002/greencentury/enkerry.html

and on and on. He's always led on this issue and every single time he's brought it up it was marginalized as a non-issue.

[blm]

4. The shame is that so many on DU hide behind media perceptions when it

suits their purpose. They don't WANT to acknowledge the earnestness of Kerry'sover three decades of work on the environment or his efforts to make government accountable to the people.

So - they throw out media lies and hide behind them.

[_dynamicdems]

5. Yes, you're right. Many people use the media perceptions when they

find it useful. The thing that amazes me here is that so many people are promoting a candidate on the basis of a single issue. It's easy to be in the limelight if you fight for only one or two things. And they hold Senator Kerry up to the standard of these one-issue candidates. If he doesn't out-Gore Gore on the environment, out-Conyers Conyers on voting reform, out-Feingold Feingold on wiretapping, out-Murtha Murtha on getting out of Iraq and any number of pet flavor of the month issues, then he's not good enough for them. They even expected him to out-Kerry himself on the issue of the Supreme Court and filibustering Alito. Think about that for a minute! He led on that issue and still some people whined it wasn't enough. This kind of idiocy gives armchair liberals everywhere a bad name.

It is easy to be good at one thing. The thing is, Senator Kerry is good at just about everything.

He can hold his own with anyone on not just any issue but ALL ISSUES. He can't LEAD on every issue or others would fall by the wayside.

Nobody blinked about his statement and proposed legislation today against Bush's unjust tax policy. What about his continued work for Katrina victims? Do any of these people even bother to pay attention to that?

And how about small business?

How about Kerry's proposals for alternate fuels and subsidies for American auto makers to be competitive, create new jobs and make cars of the future? No, they instead whine because he hasn't yet decided on the wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod.

Give me a frigging break. People are soooo stooopppidddd. If you ask me, that's why Bush is in the White House. Too many people can't see the forest for the trees. It doesn't surprise me that they are still uneducated as to all the things Senator Kerry has done. They sink their teeth into a one-issue candidate like a pit bull and won't let go come Hell or high water. Oh...until the next hot thing comes down the pike. Poor Babs Boxer is all but a memory and soon Russ Feingold will join her in the annals of the forgotten. Murtha is next, I suspect. It went from "who's Murtha" to "Murtha is a hero" and will no doubt be back to "Murtha, who was he again?"

[ProSense]

6. Word of mouth! Keep repeating the record. n/t

[sandnsea]

7. kickaroo

:kick:

[ProSense]

8. More info...

02/09/2005

Remarks by Senator John Kerry on Climate Change

Below are the remarks of Senator John Kerry at the Brookings Institution conference on Climate Change Policy in Washington, D.C., today. Remarks by Senator John Kerry AS PREPARED Climate Change Policy: What's Next?

Snip...In other words, thirteen years ago we recognized climate change as a global problem in need of a global solution. We defined a global goal. And we set a path for future negotiations. It was a small step, but it was a first step, and it was progress.

It was then only a few years later that President Clinton started to build on the foundation laid at the Earth Summit. In Japan, Argentina and the Netherlands, I watched and worked with American delegates as they hammered out the framework of the Kyoto Protocol.

Thanks to the leadership of President Clinton and Vice President Gore, the Protocol sets the first-ever binding targets to reduce pollution and incorporates a distinctly American approach to a global challenge by creating a market for pollution credits that can drive efficiency, savings and innovation.

Let me emphasize: We knew at the time, the Kyoto Protocol was a work in progress after its initial negotiation. I counseled the President against submitting it to the Congress without more progress on developing nations. We knew there was work to do.

When President Bush took office in 2001 he had any number of options before him to move the ball forward. He might have used the bully pulpit to push for greater participation from the largest emitters in the developing world. He might have focused on targets beyond 2012. He might have pushed for a more robust trading program or greater technology transfer.

But President Bush took a decidedly different tack. He flatly rejected the active and mandatory approach of the Clinton Administration, and in many ways, he even rejected the incremental and voluntary approach of his father's administration.

Instead, in the months after taking office, the President questioned the underlying science, broke a campaign promise to cap carbon emissions from power plants, rebuked his EPA chief for positive comments about Kyoto, proposed an energy plan that would only increase pollution, and withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol and the international process altogether.

In sum, our nation has been forced into a great step backward in our work to protect the global environment.

This is not a political assessment. These are the facts. The Bush Administration made clear to all who cared to listen that America would not lead-nor would it follow-the global effort to avert harmful climate change.

It is a matter of policy, and the Administration remains disengaged to this day, despite the fact that the United States is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=231831

Policy Maker Education: Briefings
Press Conference with Senator John Kerry (D-MA)

On June 11, 2001, Senator Kerry accompanied by Center for Health and the Global Environment Director Eric Chivian and Associate Director Paul Epstein along with prominant climate scientists from Harvard University, MIT and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, held a press conference at the Center to address global climate change.

http://chge.med.harvard.edu/education/policy/domestic/briefings/kerry/index.html

In addition to Chivian and Epstein, the conference panel included climate scientists Mario Molina, Nobel laureate in chemistry and MIT professor; Jerry Melillo, senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory; and James McCarthy, professor at Harvard. Each panelist gave a statement in support of Kerry's perspective. One of the most encouraging arguments came from Paul Epstein, who said that it is possible to make global climate change a "win–win situation for the environment and the economy" because the need to mitigate environmental variability could become an engine for economic growth.

http://webweekly.hms.harvard.edu/archive/2001/6_18/spotlight.html

[beachmom]

9. So true! I was blown away by Kerry's work to protect the wetlands

especially in places like . . . say off the coast of Louisiana. He did that in the early '90s. I do admire the other candidate mentioned often in regards to the environment, but Kerry is quietly and methodically much better.

You know who annoys the hell out of me is Bill Maher -- he keeps screaming why the Environment wasn't an issue in 2004, when in fact it was, and the Dems nominated the highest rated environmental person in the Senate.

Ignorance does seem to be the greatest enemy.

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. I've known it, I honor it, and I've said so here more than once

Kerry, Gore, and Clark (I listed them in reverse alphabetical order just to be unbiased, lol) have all made environmental issues a cornerstone of their political agendas. I remember appreciating Kerry for this during the 2004 Primaries, even when he wasn't my first choice. And I used the argument of Kerry's support for the environment on numerous occasions during the General Election, when I met green types who were less than thrilled with Kerry in general. Kerry is one of the real "good guys" on this issue.

[vireo]

11. LCV did what it could to get the word out in 2004

I was among many LCV volunteers in Wisconsin who tried to spread the truth about John Kerry and perhaps that contributed to his victory here.

[ProSense]

12. Cool! Thanks! n/t

[ProSense]

13. More....

Senate Passes Coastal Zone Management Act

Federal Funds to Help Clean Up Massachusetts’ Beaches

Thursday, September 28, 2000

Washington, DC – The Center for Marine Conservation and coastal advocates congratulate Senator John Kerry (D-MA) for his leadership in today's unanimous Senate passage of a bill to reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act. This bill includes crucial funding to control polluted runoff and reauthorizes the CZMA for five years boosting funding for state coastal zone management programs with a dollar-for-dollar federal match.

The US coastal zone covers less than 10% of the nations land area, yet is home to more than 50% of its population. "With 3,600 people moving into coastal communities in the U.S. every day, this Coastal Zone Management Act will help local agencies anticipate and protect against the increased ecological strain brought on by the coastal population explosion," noted Center for Marine Conservation President, Roger Rufe.

Snip...

For the first time, the CZMA provides roughly $10 million dollars in funding for nonpoint source pollution projects to assist coastal communities with ways they can reduce the impacts of polluted runoff. "Senator Kerry realized early on the problems resulting from polluted runoff and led the charge in the Senate so that coastal communities across our nation can benefit from this legislation," declared Rufe.

http://kerry.senate.gov/low/record.cfm?id=181432

http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/0506ker.pdf

[karynnj]

14. Thanks Pro-sense