From John Kerry's
campaign site:
"Throughout his career, John Kerry has been a top leader on the environment, fighting to clean up toxic waste sites, to keep our air and water clean, and to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other pristine wilderness areas. In addition to supporting important environmental initiatives, John Kerry has turned a spotlight on the Bush Administration's rollbacks of our hard-won environmental gains and their outdated, old-economy notions that our environment must be sacrificed in the name of short-term profit. John Kerry has the courage to take on the polluters that are trying to gut our clean air and water laws...
America is only as healthy as the communities in which we live, and our economic strength as a nation - and Americans' deeply rooted love and respect for our magnificent resources - depends on our commitment to clean air, clean water, and our quality of life. Unlike the Bush-Cheney Administration, where special interests rule and the environment suffers, a Kerry Administration will build its policies around citizens' needs and aspirations. We owe it to our families, our communities, and to our planet to elect a president who will unapologetically pursue our environmental values."
Well, while Senator Kerry was out unapologetically pursuing the Democratic nomination, he managed to miss today's critical cloture vote on the energy bill, or as John McCain likes to call it, the "No Lobbyist Left Behind" act. If you've been paying attention to the news, you'll know that this is the major piece of energy legislation authored behind closed doors, with more than a little help from the mysterious members of Dick Cheney's shadowy energy task force.
Perhaps the most controversial provision in the energy bill is language granting a retroactive liability waiver for producers of MTBE, a fuel additive that has caused groundwater contamination in a number of states. Some quick background:
"Reformulated gasoline (RFG) has been developed to improve air quality. RFG, as mandated by Federal law must contain a certain percentage of oxygen content in designated areas where air quality does not meet Federal standards. Oxygenates are added to meet the oxygen content requirement (roughly 2% by weight). Although the specific oxygenate to be added is not mandated by law, most refiners have chosen to use methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE).
Approximately 100,000 barrels of MTBE are used each day and it is estimated that 43 tons of MTBE are emitted to the atmosphere daily. The cost of using MTBE to consumers is high; the overall benefits are in question. There is major concern about the health and environmental impacts of using MTBE."
Additional background:
"Drinking or breathing MTBE may cause nausea, nose and throat irritation, and nervous system effects. MTBE has been found in at least 11 of the 1,430 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."
As recently as November 8, Kerry acted as if he actually cared about this issue:
"Democrat John Kerry praised New Hampshire's attorney general yesterday for taking on big oil companies but accused Washington Republicans of shielding polluters from justice.
The state sued 22 major oil companies last month over the gasoline additive MtBE, which has been found to pollute water. New Hampshire Attorney General Peter Heed said the state wants the companies to pay millions of dollars to track down the pollution and pay to clean it up...
'George Bush has reversed the polluters pay principle,' Kerry said. 'This is a reversal of the sense of morality and responsibility we fought hard to put in place.'"
Alas, Senator Kerry didn't think it was important to stand up to the polluters today. So what was Senator Kerry, who yesterday vowed to reduce the influence of lobbyists during the first 100 days of his fantasy presidency, doing that was so important he couldn't be bothered to fight back against the special interests?
"Friday, November 21, 2003 - New Hampshire
12:30 pm Laconia, NH
John Kerry will be joining firefighters at a Chili Feed at the Community Room at the Wiers Firehouse on 11 Lucern Avenue in Laconia, NH. Please contact the Manchester HQ at 603/622-9100 or nh@johnkerry.com for more information.
6:00 pm Lebanon, NH
Kerry will then travel to Lebanon to check out the chili at the Lebanon Firehouse.on 12 South Park Street in Lebanon. Please contact the Manchester HQ at 603/622-9100 or nh@johnkerry.com for more information."
Chili. I hope it didn't have too much MTBE in it.
Now, some of you will probably lecture me on the bad form I'm showing by attacking a fellow Democrat. Get over it. This is a campaign. This is a contest of ideas. This is a battle for the heart and soul of the party. This isn't tea time at the Heinz's. It's not always enough to say you'll stand up. Sometimes you actually have to show up.