The Democrats from Lewiston-Auburn obeyed their marching orders from the Kerry campaign and gave us another “Bush is bad for the environment” press conference. This time they said President Bush is responsible for the mercury in Maine’s fish. That is just plain silly!

Mercury in the environment is from thousands of sources, including both man made and Mother Nature. Telling us the Clean Air Act would make the fish safe is simplistic, wrong and patronizing.

Mercury reductions from man-made sources are already dramatic and having a positive effect. We need to do more, but we need a new plan to ensure we do it. The old Clean Air Act’s approach to mercury pollution was flawed from the outset by the Democratic Party’s need to protect coal powered generators and all the union jobs in the coal industry. Their plan was always to look busy and change nothing. With the president’s “Clear Skies” initiative, he is redirecting the nation’s environmental policy to actually do something.

That is why Maine’s legislative Democrats don’t like Clear Skies – this could actually work. It has achievable technological standards. It has clear deadlines that cannot be waived. It uses market-based incentives that have already been proven to work with acid rain.

This president has an alarming record – he says something and he does it. Be that protecting our country, lowering taxes, reforming education and now cleaning the environment. No wonder Maine’s legislative Democrats complain. They look terrible by comparison.

State Rep. Bob Daigle, District 13, Arundel

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