President Bush signs Wetlands ActPosted on 01/09/2003 7:03:56 PM PST by Uncle Bill
President Bush signs Wetlands Act
The Democrat.com
By James L. Cummins
January 7, 2002
President George W. Bush recently signed into law the reauthorization of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. It's purpose is to encourage voluntary partnerships among public agencies and the private sector to conserve North American wetland ecosystems. It establishes an infrastructure and provides a source of funding to accomplish that end. The Act funds the protection, restoration, management and enhancement of a wetland ecosystem to benefit wetland-dependent wildlife.
According to President Bush, "Today we take important action to conserve North America's wetlands, which will help keep our water clean and help provide habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife. Through this legislation, the federal government will continue its partnership with landowners, conservation groups and states to save and improve millions of acres of wetlands. The North American Wetlands Conservation Reauthorization Act shows our concern for the environment and our respect for future generations of Americans. "With this signature today, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act will be reauthorized for five years. The law authorizes federal money to match donations from sportsmen, state wildlife agencies, conservationists and landowners. Since 1991, more than $462 million in federal grants have helped to encourage $1.3 billion in contributions from others."
"Together these funds have restored streams and rivers, re-established native plants and trees, acquired land that is home to more than a third of America's threatened and endangered species. Because about 75 percent of the wetlands are held privately, we need to encourage cooperation with our landowners. This legislation shows that when government, landowners and conservationists work together, we can make dramatic progress in preserving the beauty and the quality of our environment." Bush also thanked the Congress for supporting this legislation.
Proposed projects are ranked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's North American Wetlands Conservation Council. Selected, prioritized proposals are recommended to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for consideration of funding. Membership consists of the Secretary of the Interior, who serves as Chairman; the Secretaries of Transportation and Agriculture; two Members of the Senate (one is Senator Thad Cochran); and two Members of the House of Representatives. The Commission is authorized to approve, reject or reorder the priority of the proposed projects.
Bush Administration Keeps Clinton Wetlands Rule
Bush Supports Clinton Land Grab
Cooked Climate Numbers - Thomas Sowell
Limbaugh excoriates Bush on global warming
George W. Algore (Say's Rush Limbaugh, Political issue for leftists)
LIMBAUGH RIPS BUSH WHITE HOUSE OVER GLOBAL WARMING 'FLIP-FLOP'
Rush: Fleischer Flips Back, White House Realigns With EPA Warning Report
Is he now Global Warming Bush? - Cal Thomas
White House defends U-turn on global warming
U-TURN: BUSH ADMIN OUTLINES 'GLOBAL WARMING' EFFECTS ON AMERICA; ACKNOWLEDGES DAMAGE
BUSH DISMISSES OWN ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON 'WARMING'
Bush Administration Blames Humans for Global Warming
Press Briefing - June 5, 2002
"Q Ari, if I could change subjects for a second. This morning you said that the President quoted a speech, indicating that the President believes that human activity is largely responsible for the increase in greenhouse gases. But I'm wondering if he also agrees with an EPA report which indicated that human activity is likely the cause of global warming?
MR. FLEISCHER: Let me just read from the President's statement of June 11th on global warming, and let me read from the recent report the EPA submitted to the United Nations. And I think you'll hear that on the key issues, they really sound very, very similar. This is the President on June 11th in the Rose Garden, in a speech where he announced his global warming policies.
"Concentration of greenhouse gases, especially C02, have increased substantially since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. And the National Academy of Sciences indicate that the increase is due in large part to human activity." That's the President himself speaking.
Here is from the report, page 4, that was just submitted to the United States by the EPA: "Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as the result of human activities, causing global mean surface temperature and subsurface ocean temperature to rise. While the changes observed over the last several decades are due most likely to human activities, we cannot rule out that some significant part is also a reflection of natural variability." And I think what you're hearing is the same thing.
Q I'm glad you make the connection explicitly, since the President addressed greenhouse gases, but not specifically global warming. Does the President agree with the conclusion that human activity is likely the cause of global warming?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's what the President said in his speech in June.
Q That's not exactly what he said. He does agree with it?
MR. FLEISCHER: When the President cites the National Academy of Science as saying that the National Academy of Science indicates that the increase is due in large part to human activity, I don't know how the President could say it more specifically than that.
Q He hasn't changed his mind at all?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. Here's -- the bottom line for the President is, number one, he has made a proposal that he believes is a proposal that not only can reduce the problem of greenhouse gases and global warming, but also protects the American economy, so the American economy can lead the world in technological and scientific advances that also have an effect in reducing pollution.
The President has said, citing the National Academy of Sciences, that the increase is due in large part to human activity. The President has also continued, citing both, now this report the EPA has sent to the United Nations, previous evidence from the National Academy of Sciences, that there's uncertainty -- and the recent report notes that there is considerable uncertainty. That's the state of science, and the President agrees with it. I don't think people dispute that.
Q Its uncertainty, but he can still draw that conclusion, that --
MR. FLEISCHER: He didn't June 11th.
Q He didn't exactly do it, but you're saying it now.
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, when the President cites a report by the National Academy of Sciences that indicates the increase is due in large part to human activity, I think you have two reports that are very similar.
Q Why was he --
Q Why did he call it the bureaucracy yesterday?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think the EPA issued a report that says the same thing. And I think the President was also reflecting about some of the way it was covered, that made it sound as if the report was somehow inconsistent with what he had said previously.
Q I don't think he reflected at all, he just said that, I saw it put out by a bureaucracy. What did he reflect on?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm sharing with you his insights."
Ari Fleischer Sound Bite
Bush Warms To Climate
The Washington Times
By Greg Pierce
May 21, 1999
Source
Texas Gov. George W. Bush has changed his tune on a key environmental issue, saying he no longer believes there's any question that the globe is warming, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
"I believe there is global warming," he said at a news conference last week. Mr. Bush had said just a few weeks ago that the "science is still out" on global warming. The governor, who is leading a crowded field of GOP presidential candidates, said his team of advisers had changed his mind.
"The last time I wasn't certain of the science," he said. "I've had some briefings recently and I'm becoming more convinced that the science proves there's global warming."
Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the liberal consumer and environmental group Public Citizen, welcomed the new position.
"We are delighted that Gov. Bush is acknowledging that global warming is a problem," he said. "We would ask him to take a leadership role since Texas leads the nation in global warming."
But Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy, a conservative group that doubts global-warming theories, says Mr. Bush should take another look.
"We think there's been a lot of questionable and bad science that's been used," said the group's spokeswoman, Peggy Venable.
[End of Transcript]
More Than 15,000 Scientists Speak Out Against Global Warming Myth
Bush decisions rankle conservatives
"And now, a Republican administration will continue and complete the work of a Democratic administration. This is the way environmental policy should work."
George W. Bush - SOURCE
FOX NEWS
Monday, December 02, 2002
Source
(AP)WASHINGTON — President Bush, hoping to burnish his environmental record, signed legislation Monday to continue a program aimed at preserving America's wetlands.
"The federal government will continue its partnership with land owners, conservation groups and states to save and improve millions of acres of wetlands,'' the president said in a White House ceremony.
The legislation extends a program under which the federal government matches donations from sportsmen, state wildlife agencies, conservationists and land owners who pledge to protect wetlands.
Bush said the government has contributed $462 million since 1981 under the program.
Bush also was signing several other bills Monday, including defense spending legislation and a measure in honor of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., who died in an Oct. 25 plane crash that also killed his wife, their daughter and five others.
President Bush Signs Wetlands Conservation Act
President Bush Signs Wetlands Conservation Act
Presidential Hall
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
9:30 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Please be seated. Thank you. Glad you're here. Welcome to the White House.
Today, we're taking important action to conserve North America's wetlands, which will help keep our water clean and help provide habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife. Through this legislation, the federal government will continue its partnership with landowners, conservation groups, and states to save and improve millions of acres of wetlands. The North American Wetlands Conservation Reauthorization Act shows our concern for the environment and our respect for future generations of Americans.
I appreciate two members of my Cabinet who are here today. I'm honored the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton is with us, the Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, thank you both for coming.
I appreciate the ambassador, Ambassador Kergin from Canada, for being here as well. Mr. Ambassador, glad you're here. Thanks for coming.
I want to thank Bob Smith, senator from New Hampshire, for being here, and for his work on this bill. I want to thank Wayne Gilcrest from Maryland -- he's got a big interest in wetlands as well as the Chesapeake Bay -- for coming here. I appreciate so very much Robert Underwood, ranking member from Guam for coming. I'm sorry that Jim Hansen is not with us today. He was the Chairman of the House Committee on Resources, who helped write and sponsor and get this legislation passed through the Congress.
I appreciate Steve Williams, who is the director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, for coming today. Where are you, Steve? There you are. Thanks for coming.
And I want to thank the president of Ducks Unlimited, John Tomke, thanks for coming, John. I'm glad you all are here. And I want to thank you all for coming as well.
With this signature today, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act will be reauthorized for five years. The law authorizes federal money to match donations from sportsmen, state wildlife agencies, conservationists and landowners. Since 1991, more than $462 million in federal grants have helped to encourage $1.3 billion in contributions from others.
Together these funds have restored streams and rivers, re-established native plants and trees, acquired land that is home to more than a third of America's threatened and endangered species. Because about 75 percent of the wetlands are held privately, we need to encourage cooperation with our landowners. This legislation shows that when government and landowners and conservationists and others work together, we can make dramatic progress in preserving the beauty and the quality of our environment.
I want to thank the Congress for supporting this legislation. And I ask the members of the Congress and the two Cabinet members who are here today to join me as I sign this important piece of legislation.
(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)
Thank you. Thank you.
END 9:33 A.M.
Hi Fred, hope all is well. No, I don't.
This isn't Clinton's Wetland Bill...it's Reagan's Wetland Bill.
Is this the kind of "voluntary" where you get tossed in the klink for killing an endangered salamander in your own backyard or is it a legitimate, bona-fied kinda "voluntary" agreement..
Is this politicianese for government theft of private property?
On this issue? What about his suggestion to offer those out of work 3 grand for a 'job search' account on top of being able to sit on their arses for 6 months? And the incentive is that if you find a job before then, you get to keep the money!! Saw that on Brit Hume tonight. And the only protection apparently is Sec. Chao's hope that 'most' of the unemployed wouldn't use $3,000 tax free dollars to go on a cruise or buy a vehicle
The Something Undermining Our Nation
The Wall Street Journal
March 30, 1998 Review & Outlook
Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
The Spring Pond Beavers
Now that the Academy Awards have been handed out, we are proud to present the Award for Environmental Lunacy to the obscure Michigan bureaucrat who sent the following (abridged) letter to a landowner last December:
"It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity: Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. . . . The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris dams and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. . . . Failure to comply with this request, or any further unauthorized activity on the site, may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action. . . ."
The landowner's response (also abridged) just about says it all:
"[A] couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood 'debris' dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, nor authorize their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natural building materials 'debris'. . . . As to your dam request the beavers first must fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity, my first dam question to you is: are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or do you require all dam beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, please send me completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits. . . . I seriously hope you are not selectively enforcing this dam policy--or once again both I and the Spring Pond Beavers will scream prejudice!"
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality informs us that the case has been closed.
Copyright © 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
EPA says "we haven't decided on the rules but we will prosecute you"
OMG! (gosh)
Why in the world did he re-sign this horrible thing?
- Same suit, different tie
The Bush Environmental Budget
Building a Bridge to the 19th Century
The Bush administration budget proposes significant reductions in environmental programs across a range of agencies. The cuts in fiscal year 2002 would deal serious blows to efforts to raise environmental protection for the nation, and the long-term funding trend would leave no room for offsetting these decreases in the future.
Ask yourself, if Bush is a socialist greeney, why would the National Resources Defense Council be so pissed at him?
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