“Gore
Dodges Specifics on Polluters”
by J. Winston
Porter
(As published in The Atlanta Journal on 10/23/00)
The “Big
Polluters” are right up there with Big Oil, Pharmaceuticals, and Insurance
on Al Gore’s enemies list. But it’s time for the vice-president
to be specific.
There are only two types of polluters, big or otherwise. The most clear cut
are those individuals, businesses, institutions, or governmental units who
are in violation of existing environmental laws or regulations.
This first category ought to be easy for Mr. Gore to specify since he is still
part of the Clinton-Gore administration and Carol Browner, his former congressional
staffer, is in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Voters need to know which big polluters are violating current air, water,
waste, or toxics laws and bring them to justice. No need to waste time, as
the current administration has the full authority to deal with this now.
The other types of polluters may be causing environmental damage, but for
which there is no “controlling legal authority.”
Let’s explore who is in this second group and see what political difficulties
are created for Gore if he gets too detailed.
This group could include the makers of internal combustion engines (e.g.,
Ford or General Motors), which Mr. Gore says in his book Earth in the Balance
are “posing a mortal threat to the security of every nation that is more
deadly than that of any military enemy we are ever again likely to confront.”
He then calls for “completely eliminating the internal combustion engine
over, say, a twenty-year period.” This creates a big problem though for
Mr. Gore. It’s called the United Auto Workers.
Well then, how about the global warming culprits, Mr. Gore’s favorite
environmental scapegoats? If you believe, like Mr. Gore, that manmade carbon
dioxide is causing global warming, then logically Mr. Gore should be naming
names, for example, among the coal-using utilities and manufacturers. But
wait, many of these companies are located in the battleground Midwestern states.
Also, the United Mine Workers have finally, begrudgingly, endorsed Mr. Gore,
so it’s probably not a good time to be too specific here either.
Another type of pollution which is not covered well by existing laws is rainwater
runoff from urban areas. Large amounts of grease, trash, and lawn chemicals
get into our rivers and lakes this way. So, maybe some of Mr. Gore’s
big polluters are our major cities.
But big cities have largely Democratic mayors and voters.
We have made great strides against pollution in the last 20-30 years. Some
examples include:
So, it’s pretty safe for Mr. Gore to rail against big polluters as long as he infers industry is to blame, without naming names. But, as he continually reminds Governor Bush, its time to be specific.
©J. Winston Porter 2001