Etc., etc., etc. …...

Coming in future issues…..

Toy Soldiers, the Collecting Wars

Superfund Money Dries Up

Hunting Fossils in Nebraska

Nebraska Barns          Kid Korner

The slumping economy and Bush administration policies have favored the plans of those who consider environmental protection secondary to economic development and continued dependence upon fossil fuels.

Federal prosecutions and penalties for violations have both declined since Bush took office. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program all but ran out of money, leaving many states and local communities to go it alone in cleaning up hundreds of contaminated sites that have not been dealt with yet.

In a countertrend, there is a broadening acceptance of the idea of sustainability-- a kind of Hippocratic Oath embracing both the environment and the economy. One example: A growing willingness at the state level to explore alternative energy sources that may reduce consumer demand for coal and oil and spur new economic growth of its own.

At least 43 states now have financial programs aimed at moving consumers away from reliance on fossil fuels. They range from personal and corporate tax credits to rebates, loans and sales tax moratoriums. Fourteen states have laws mandating that a certain percentage of electricity be derived from renewable sources. And 34 states have regulations requiring utility companies to accommodate renewable energy systems to help reduce monthly power bills.

States have become more solution oriented when it comes to environmental energy. New Hampshire set the tone in April 2002 when lawmakers passed the nation's first law mandating reductions in carbon emissions from fossil-fuel burning power plants.
California lawmakers directed the state's Air Resources Board to set fuel efficiency standards limiting the amount of CO2 produced by vehicles sold in the state. The new law may transform the cars Americans drive.
Responding to legal pressure from automakers and the Bush administration, the Air Resources Board changed the fuel efficiency standards in April. The change means the board will require fewer vehicles to be sold with no tailpipe emissions and more with modest emissions.

More WPA stories about Nebraska by Nebraskans

effort, "who have publicly claimed to have turned in as many as 200,000 pro-recall signatures, appeared Tuesday to have just a fraction of what is needed to qualify the measure for the ballot," the San Francisco Chronicle reports….The Washingtonian says some Democratic pols are convinced that Bill Clinton will run against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R). "Being mayor of New York is considered by some easterners the second-best job after being president. Running in 2005 (New York elects its mayor in an off year) will allow the former president to be in the position to deliver his state to Hillary in the 2008 election and claim, if the race is close, that he put her in the White House…."In a rare rebuke of President Bush," Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) "has blocked votes on two White House nominees to an obscure board that oversees U.S.-sponsored funding for development in Africa," Roll Call's Mark Preston reports. "While holds on nominees are not uncommon, it is rare for a Senator from the same party as the president to block a nomination."

Chief Petty Officer: Still in a snit over France's objections to invading Iraq before Weapons Inspectors could do their job, President Bush, while at the G8 conference in Paris, will stay in Switzerland. France still has the high moral ground as no weapons of mass destruction have ever been found… Sen. Ernest Hollings said he's ready to run again. The 80 year old Senator is from South Carolina and now that Strom Thurmond has retired he has finally become the senior senator...Warren Buffet writes of the Bush economic plan: "Remember that giving one class of taxpayer a "break" requires--now or down the line-- that an equivalent burden be imposed on other parties. In other words, if I get a break, someone else pays. Government can't deliver a free lunch to the country as a whole. It can, however, determine who pays for lunch. And last week the Senate handed the bill to the wrong party. Supporters of making dividends tax free like to paint critics as promoters of class welfare. The fact is, however, that their proposal promotes class welfare. For my class." ….Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has already handicapped the Iowa caucuses as the countdown hits eight months until balloting. The governor has Richard Gephardt, John Kerry and Howard Dean in the top tier of the current nine candidates….the New York Times notes that "in a reversal of a longstanding policy, the Bush administration said that it would allow federal grants to be used to renovate churches and religious sites that are designated historic landmarks." …."Responding to a threatened special election to recall" California Gov. Gray Davis (D), "key supporters of the governor have launched a committee to try to kill the effort before it qualifies for the ballot," the Los Angeles Times reports. One Davis aide "is taking a leave of absence from his state job to lead the committee, Taxpayers Against the Recall."
Meanwhile, supporters of the recall

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson: Phone: (202) 224-6551  Fax: (202) 228-001240, Suite 5 Dirksen Basement (Temp)
Washington, DC 20510
senator@bennelson.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel: Phone: (202) 224-4224  Fax: (202) 224-5213
346 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
chuck_hagel@hagel.senate.gov
Rep. Doug Bereuter: Phone:(202) 225-4806 Fax (202) 225-5686
2184 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Rep. Lee Terry:Phone: (202) 225-4155  Fax: (202) 226-5452  1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
talk2lee@mail.house.gov
Rep. Tom Osborne:Phone: (202) 225-6435  Fax: (202) 236-1385
507 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
PLEASE NOTE: Congressmen Bereuter and Osborne do not have email

SEC. B, p2
Senate Moments

NEW!
SEC. B, p3
HISTORY
SCRAMBLE