Environmental groups note 10 of the worst changes during the year.

As we ring in the New Year it is important to reflect upon the changes we’ve seen in the last 365 or so days. With that in mind, the following is an “environmental year in review,” the top 10 blows to our environment in 2003 (in order of chronology, not importance):

10. Early in the year, President Bush proposes removing protections on streams, wetlands, ponds and other important water bodies by reclassifying them as “non-navigable waters.” After massive public outcry, Bush drops the proposal, but in its place holds a requirement that government field staff who wish to officially protect these waterways from pollution must first get permission from Washington headquarters. The process is not required when staff are authorizing activities destructive to the water bodies.

9. In February, Bush’s 2004 budget is revealed, rewarding corporate polluters and slashing funding for the environment and public health. The decision sets the tone for a year in which major campaign contributors will consistently be given priority over the well-being of the environment and the public in general.

8. In August, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt is nominated to head the Environmental Protection Agency, despite the fact that he has loudly supported cuts in air pollution standards, favored logging in pristine wilderness areas, and actively avoided reductions in global warming pollution.

7. On Aug. 27, President Bush announces that he will gut the Clean Air Act by allowing the nation’s dirtiest power plants to pollute even more. (Thankfully, the decision was shot down by the a federal appeals court late in December.)

6. On Oct. 1, the Superfund, which once funded toxic waste cleanups from a fee on the companies that used hazardous chemicals, goes bankrupt. President Bush opposes the reinstatement of the “polluter pays” tax in favor of burdening citizens with the cost. When it expired in 1995, taxpayers paid for only about 18 percent of the Superfund; next year, we will pay between $1.1 billion and $1.265 billion, as much as a 317 percent increase. Large polluting corporations, however, will receive a $4 million tax break per day as long as the polluter-pays rule is not reinstated. There are 12 national priority Superfund sites in Maine, including Eastland Woolen Mill in Corinna, Callahan Mine in Brooksville and Hows Corners in Plymouth.

5. On Oct. 25, a six-year transportation bill is released by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which reauthorizes surface transport, putting big holes in the Clean Air Act rules that help prevent highway projects from worsening air quality in areas already plagued by excessive air pollution.

4. Five days later, the Senate votes against curbing global warming pollution, though Maine’s senators both vote in its favor. The McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act of 2003 would have reduced global warming pollution by the year 2010 to the levels seen in 2000.

3. In November, the House passes a disastrous energy bill, which gives tax breaks to the most polluting industries, allows for the burning of historic old-growth forests for fuel and nullifies state lawsuits that would fund the cleanup of sites contaminated by the gasoline additive MtBE. Maine’s Congressmen vote

against the horrible bill.

Thankfully, the bill is narrowly defeated in the Senate on Nov. 21, with Maine’s senators playing a pivotal role in the move. Unfortunately, the bill isn’t dead yet; a modified version will be brought for vote again early this year.

2. On Dec. 3, President Bush signs into law his so-called “Healthy Forest Initiative,” which authorizes the logging of old-growth trees – which are fire resistant – in the name of fire prevention. Following this, two days before Christmas, Bush also authorizes logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.

1. On Dec. 15, Bush’s EPA announces the new rules for coal-burning power plants’ mercury emissions, which were created under court order. Rather than reducing emissions by 90 percent, which, in 2001, the EPA itself said would be achievable, mercury is reclassified as a non-toxic substance and power plants are allowed to emit as much as six times more than what is currently allowed by law.

In the New Year, children and women of child-bearing age, the people most affected by the neurological damage associated with mercury poisoning, will continue to face serious threats to their health because of this decision.

Federal actions have threatened our environment and public health throughout the year, but the public and environmental groups have staved off a few of the attacks. As we continue to face similar challenges in the New Year, we have the opportunity here in Maine to work toward the creation of better laws and policies so that the environment we one day pass on to future generations will be a healthy one. Last year was rough for our environment, but hopefully we will see better things for it in 2004.

Nora Ellertsen is a field organizer for Environment Maine in Portland.

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