Issue Position: Protecting Our Environment
Our planet is now at a crossroads. Global warming is the most pressing environmental challenge of our time, and if it goes unchecked, the consequences for Rhode Island and our entire country will be devastating. This year, the Senate took up legislation to tackle the causes of air pollution and address global warming, the first time such a bill has ever been seriously debated. I'm proud that bill includes measures I sponsored to help coastal communities like those in Rhode Island plan for the effects of global warming, and to prepare for the impact of significant climate change on our wildlife and marine ecosystems. President Bush remains unwilling to take the threat of global warming seriously, but I will continue to do all I can to ensure we take steps to address this looming problem.
Because of Rhode Island's unique relationship with the sea, I believe it is particularly important to protect Narragansett Bay and its waterways. I'm a cosponsor of the Clean Water Restoration Act, a bill that would restore important environmental protections to our communities' water supplies - safeguards that were recently removed by the Supreme Court. Protecting our waters will also help us maintain the Ocean State's vibrant fishing and recreational boating industries.
For years, the Bush Administration has put politics before science, and the interests of big polluters before the health and safety of the American people. We need to reverse these misguided policies and restore the fundamental integrity of federal environmental regulation. As Rhode Island's U.S. Attorney and Attorney General, I fought for environmental protection and conservation efforts, and as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I'm continuing that fight to clean up pollution in our communities, protect our waters, save threatened wildlife species, and stop global warming.
Our efforts to protect the environment and public health strongly depend on the independence and integrity of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Unfortunately, under the Bush Administration, and most recently under EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, vitally important EPA decisionmaking has been hijacked by politics, with the advice of agency scientists and lawyers all too often swept aside to serve the political objectives of the Bush Administration and its big business allies. Institutional safeguards and processes that protect the agency's integrity and guide its mission have been systematically dismantled. And Administrator Johnson has personally and repeatedly refused to cooperate with Congress in our efforts to conduct proper oversight of the executive branch. For all of these reasons, in July 2008 I called on the Administrator to step down, and asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to open an investigation to determine whether Mr. Johnson lied to Congress, a criminal offense.
I will continue to use the Senate's oversight responsibilities to hold the Administration accountable for decisions that harm our environment and public health, and for corrupting the very institutions of our government.