Part Four of my two-week look at significant chapters in the US Commission on Civil Rights' report on the record of the BushCo presidency. By what appears to be mutal agreement with the powers that be, the corporate media is postponing any discussion of the report until after Election Day.
Today's section: Environmental Justice
"I guess you could call me a good steward of the environment."
Or, we could could read the US Commission on Civil Rights report and find out that BushCo is not only most definitely not a good steward of the environment, he's also got a crummy track record on the environmental justice front.
The reports spends a lot of its time looking at BushCo's prosecution of Exectutive Order 12,898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.” It was issued by Clinton in 1995 and is designed to put the justice in "Environmental Justice." It directs federal agencies to set up environmental justice strategies and to create accountability standards and measures to evaulate the progress they've made.
BushCo, while issuing plenty of memos that make it seem as if he cares about environmental justice, has in reality set about hobbling the efficacy of the EO 12,898, condeming it by failing to establish goals for specific outcomes or adopt methods for measuring progress, which was the heart of the order.
The EPA's inspector general has found out that
despite a decade of active pursuit, Executive Order 12,898 is still not part of EPA’s core mission. President Bush did not consider implementation of the order a primary goal. The inspector general notes that EPA has not developed a clear vision or a comprehensive strategic plan, nor established values, goals, expectations, and performance measurements regarding the order. Further, EPA has not provided regional or program offices with standards for what constitutes a minority or lowincome community, or defined the term “disproportionately” as it relates to environmental justice. If EPA does not identify parameters for environmental justice, it will not be able to comply with Executive Order 12,898.
That's a pattern throughout the BushCo plan for environmental justice: set out ambitious goals, but gut the process by failing to follow through with any of the requisite standards and practices that would get the goals accomplished. All hat, no cattle.
Here's the conclusion: (emph mine)
In sum, the Bush administration has not adequately addressed environmental justice issues. Despite developing environmental justice goals, EPA has not created methods to measure the administration’s progress toward them. Although EPA has reduced its backlog of Title VI complaints, concerns have been raised about those that were dismissed or rejected. The administration also does not recognize or acknowledge that minority and low-income communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental pollutants. Despite both the administration’s position and whether municipalities and states are intentionally carrying out discriminatory policies, numerous studies reveal that minority communities are home to a disproportionate share of health hazards and waste sites. Minority and low-income people are victimized, and the Bush administration must acknowledge that environmental injustice exists.
It's painful to read the commission shouting into the wind of the BushCo adminstration's denials. The sad fact is that BushCo has made a career of not acknowledging anything that he finds inconvenient to acknowledge. And since the commission is operating from the reality-based world, their cries to have the health and well-being of the poor recognized by the industry-owned BushCo Empire will go ignored.
Read about the USCCR's view of the BushCo record on
Voting Rights
Fair Housing
Native American Rights
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