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In 2000, when George W. Bush campaigned for President, he said he stood behind the need for a healthy environment. Many in Texas shuddered when they heard his words because they knew that what he really meant was the need for a good healthy money making environment for his corporate contributors. His contributors didn't think they should have to hassle with environmental regulations, and neither did Bush.
Here is what Governor Bush said during his campaign.
"Vote for me. I'm for clean air and clean water. I'm for setting high standards based upon science, based upon reality, based upon making sure that the decision-making, that the decisions we make is based upon what works and what's real. I believe the federal government has a role to set high standards, but the federal government must work with local stakeholders, must work with folks to achieve those standards." [Source: Online NewsHour: Bush's Environmental Record, August 22, 2000]
During that campaign, Bush often said that he would "do for America what I have done for Texas" and this became the way people talked about Bush's promises for America:
"GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH can do for America what he has done for Texas -- reform education, cut taxes, create jobs, improve the environment, provide accessible health care and create a safer place for parents to raise their children. " [Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, November 2, 2000] (Emphasis added.)
Did George W. Bush do for America what he had done for Texas regarding the environment? Today, the answer is a resounding yes. But, what was the record, and what did he really promise to do to the rest of America?
When Governor Bush ran for President in 2000, he ran on a record where Texas ranked #1 for the dirtiest air in the country. In fact, under his watch, the air in Texas grew dirtier while elsewhere, like Los Angeles, the air got cleaner.
Just why did the air get worse in Texas during this time? In 1996, the regulators in Texas were ready to clamp down on the biggest polluters in Texas. Just in time, George Bush rode to the rescue of these beleaguered corporations. Under the direction of Ralph Martinez, his appointee to the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC - the Texas agency equivalent to the EPA), some major industry representatives came up with a voluntary pollution abatement program concerning "grandfathered" plants. This program was created without any public involvement, but with lots of industry input. Once all the parties (industry and Bush's representatives) agreed to the terms, the TNRCC was asked to vote on it. Since the commission members had been appointed by Bush, the results were predictable: the seven industry representatives voted for it while the four citizen/environmental representatives voted to against it. [Source: TX PEERS: http://www.txpeer.org/Bush/Dismantling_Regulations.html]
Grandfathered industrial plants are those plants that were "grandfathered in" when the original clean air law was enacted in 1970. In the case of energy companies, any power plant that was built before the laws were enacted is exempt from stricter regulations unless they undergo a major upgrade to increase the capacity of a plant. For these plants, emission levels were grandfathered to the pre-1970s levels with the belief that within a few years they would be taken offline for cleaner, more efficient plants. In the 1970s no one ever expected these plants to still be polluting at the same (or greater) levels in 2003.
Bush likes to talk about measuring results. I agree that setting standards and measuring results can be quite effective in making sure programs work. For this program, the targets set for reducing the amount of "grandfathered" emissions was to cut out 25,000 tons out of the 900,000 tons emitted in 1996 (or 3% of the total).
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