With foreign policy, terrorism and economic issues garnering most of the nation’s attention over the last three years, environmental concerns have been all but ignored by most Americans. While the debate on drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was deemed worthy of some “airtime” by the press, the bulk of the environmental actions undertaken by this administration have taken place beneath the radar screen of the average voter. We suspect that that is about to change.

With the release of the President’s proposed budget on February 2, 2004, it should finally be clear to all Americans that our environment is under attack and that the threat comes not from the mountains of Afghanistan but from the hollowed halls of Washington. For three years, the administration has been aggressively, though stealthily, dismantling the environmental protections developed over the last thirty years by republican and democratic administrations alike. Now the stealth has been discarded and the attack on the environment is being done openly and very aggressively.

The proposed budget slashes the funding of the Environmental Protection Agency by 8.9% with most of the cuts focused on clean water initiatives. $492 million would be cut from low-interest loans to states and municipalities for water pollution control projects and an additional $335 million would be eliminated from programs designed to improve wastewater, stormwater and drinking water. The loss of federal funds for these projects will almost certainly result in higher local taxes and user fees as many of the projects that fall into these categories are federally mandated and required by law. If you know what an unfunded mandate is then you know you are staring one right in the eye.

Even though his agency is slated to lose $604 million in funding, EPA Administrator, Mike Leavitt, told reporters that the budget allocates “substantially more money" than prior years and that; "With the President's budget, we can increase the velocity of environmental protection." (Reuters 2/3/2003)

Although it is ever so tempting to insert a quip about Mr. Leavitt’s math skills, the reality is that the situation is too serious to be glib. Consider for a moment that enforcement actions are at their lowest levels in 14 years and you’ll begin to get a sense of the problems that we face. Since 2001, the number of monthly violation notices has declined by 58% and over 200 EPA employees involved in enforcement have resigned in protest, including Eric Schaeffer, the Director of Regulatory Enforcement (see resignation letter) or been reassigned. To put the problem into perspective, the first Bush administration averaged 195 citations a month while the Clinton administration averaged 183. The average for the current administration was 90 violations per month in 2001, dropping to 79 per month for 2002 and falling even further to 51 per month for the first nine months of 2003. In October 2003, the EPA issued an all-time low of 35 violation notices. (12/9/2003 Seth Borenstein – Knight Ridder)

In addition to cuts at the EPA, the 2005 budget proposes a 22% reduction in the Energy Department’s budget to research the long-term consequences of energy use and the development of alternate energy sources. The programs to be trimmed or eliminated include those dealing with global climate change, terrestrial and marine ecosystems and the impact of radiation.

The 2005 budget also renews administration efforts to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling and assumes that leasing tracts in the area to energy companies will begin in 2006. Despite being rebuffed by the Senate on several occasions, the administration has said in its budget that opening ANWR would result in $2.4 billion in leasing fees and that 50% of that amount would go toward increased funding for the Energy Department's renewable energy technology research programs over seven years.

As might be expected, some feel that even the proposed budget is too environmentally friendly and are demanding further cuts. They may well get their way if the average American continues to ignore the consequences of what WE as a nation are allowing special interests to get away with. WE are responsible for what is happening and WE can correct it. VOTE like your future depends on it - because it does.