CONCORD, N.H. July 19, 2004 — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency for two Republican presidents criticized President Bush's record on Monday, calling it a "polluter protection" policy.
Russell E. Train, who headed the EPA from September 1973 to January 1977 part of the Nixon and Ford administrations said Bush's record on the environment was so dismal that he would cast his vote for Democrat John Kerry.
“It's almost as if the motto of the administration in power today in Washington is not environmental protection, but polluter protection," Train said. "I find this deeply disturbing."
In 1988, Train was co-chairman of Conservationists for Bush, an organization that backed the candidacy of George W. Bush's father.
Train spoke at an event organized by Environment2004, which opposes Bush's environmental record. He accused Bush of weakening the Clean Air Act and said the president's record falls short of those set by former Republican presidents, from Theodore Roosevelt, who advocated creating national parks and forests, to George H.W. Bush, who supported revised standards for clean air.
The Bush-Cheney campaign defended the president's record, saying states such as New Hampshire benefit from the president's Healthy Forests Initiative. They also argued that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions have dropped during the Bush administration.
Former Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, who is working to elect John Kerry, accused President Bush on Monday of feeding Congress and the American people "a pack of lies" as justification for the war in Iraq.
"We were flat out lied to," the Georgia Democrat said, "by the president, by the vice president and by the secretary of defense."
Cleland assailed Bush during a conference call with reporters in which the Democratic National Committee rolled out a Web video that is being e-mailed to supporters and posted on the committee's Web site. It argues that Bush diverted resources from the war on terrorism in Afghanistan to the war in Iraq.
Cleland criticized Bush for his decision to "go it alone" in Iraq without the support of other nations, calling the move "the greatest strategic error of American military history."
Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman, said the president is focused on reforming America's intelligence system while Kerry and his surrogates launch political attacks. Schmidt called Cleland's criticism "typical of a campaign that has been engaged in political gamesmanship with national security issues throughout the campaign."
Cleland cited Bush's claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network and effort to secure uranium for nuclear weapons.
"All of that is a pack of lies," Cleland said.
Who would win in a WWE-style smackdown wrestling match, Bush or Kerry?
World Wrestling Entertainment stars "The Hurricane," Maven Huffman and Chris "Harvard" Nowinski came to the Capitol Monday to ensure that this year's election doesn't come down to that.
Promoting the WWE's "Smackdown Your Vote" voter registration drive, they met with Reps. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., to discuss difficulties encountered by students trying to vote on college campuses.
The Hurricane, aka Greg Helms, said in the past many students have been turned away from the polls because they don't have a permanent address, even though a 1979 Supreme Court ruling said they have the right to register and vote on campus.
The WWE's nonpartisan campaign is part of a broader push by voter registration groups to get 20 million people between the ages of 18-30 to vote this year, a 10 percent increase from young people's participation in the contested 2000 presidential election.
The Hurricane said he's betting on Bush: "I think cage matches are pretty popular in Texas, so I think Bush might have an upper hand."
"I think dividing the country and eliminating the president that started the efforts to free Iraq would be detrimental at this point," he said.
Maven and Harvard were not so sure.
"I think Kerry would give him a run for his money," Maven said. "I'd pay pay-per-view to see it."
Associated Press Writers Liz Sidoti and Aparna H. Kumar in Washington contributed to this report.
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On the Net: www.environment2004.org.
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