Editorial: Not much joy on this Earth Day

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 3:39 a.m.

Last week President Bush practically tripped over himself as he announced Clinton-era environmental regulations that would be kept in place. Normally that wouldn't have been particularly newsworthy since the regulations were sound environmental protections. For instance, Bush approved a regulation that would expand wetlands protection and he supported a rule that would require more businesses to report releases of toxic lead. For that matter, it seemed odd that Bush was working so hard to get credit for regulations that he didn't have a hand in creating in the first place.

What made Bush's sudden transformation into a "green" president notable was that he has run into all sorts of trouble since deciding to review all regulations adopted at the end of the Clinton administration. Bush claimed he wanted to see if regulations should be scrapped that placed undue burdens on businesses. But the Republican president has come under intense criticism -- including from moderate members of his own party -- for unwisely scuttling popular regulations, such as a curb on carbon dioxide emissions and a curtailment of arsenic in drinking water. The fact that Earth Day was fast approaching, and with it all sorts of comparisons to Bush's pro-polluting record in his first three months in office, also led to the president's miraculous transformation into a friend of the environment.

It remains to be seen whether the latest moves are a lasting trend of the administration, or simply just a public relations ploy to buy some time until Earth Day activities are over. Here in Nevada, there is sizable support for protecting the environment and our health and safety from polluting industries. Specifically, one regulation that Nevada has taken an intense interest in is a regulation adopted in the final days of the Clinton administration that would impose strict standards limiting the amount of radiation that could be released from a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The nuclear power industry has bitterly opposed the Environmental Protection Agency's radiation standard, arguing that it could make it impractical to build a repository.

Even if Bush allows the EPA's radiation standard to stay in place, Nevadans should worry about the administration's true intentions regarding nuclear waste storage. As part of his energy policy, Bush has placed a high priority on jump-starting the languishing nuclear power industry. If more nuclear power plants are built that will mean more nuclear waste, which will result in more pressure to bury the deadly garbage at Yucca Mountain. Bush has shown that his energy policy's top priority is complying with the needs of industry -- the environment takes a back seat. That also has been seen in his promotion of drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge despite concerns that development could harm the environmentally sensitive Alaska land.

There also was disturbing foreshadowing in the March issue of Insight, a newsletter published by the Nuclear Energy Institute, a lobbying arm for the nuclear power industry. In an article about high-level nuclear waste, Republican Gov. John Engler of Michigan, an ardent Bush supporter, said further inaction on establishing a repository was intolerable. But, according to the nuclear power newsletter, Engler was optimistic. Why? "Fortunately, with a new administration dedicated to our nation's energy security, the prospect for progress never has been brighter," Engler said.

In normal circumstances, one might not pay too much heed to Engler's musings. But in light of this administration's anti-environmental record to date, it makes for an even uneasier Earth Day this year.