Kerry's Record on the Environment
John Kerry has made environmental protection one of his top priorities as a United States Senator. His commitment to preserving the environment and protecting the public health comes from seeing first hand the damage that can be caused by pollution and a disregard of the environment. The Senator has worked on the local, national and international level to help preserve the natural world.
The people of Massachusetts have a special relationship with the natural world. From Cape Cod to the Berkshires, the citizens of the Commonwealth have organized to protect special environments all across the State. John Kerry has done all he can from the United States Senate to help them succeed. Here are just a few of the accomplishments of Senator Kerry and the local leaders of Massachusetts
Clean Air
• Senator Kerry has been a leader in the fight to protect New England’s air quality, especially from powerplants operating in the Midwest with few environmental safeguards. Pollution from those facilities is carried eastward to New England where it contributes to acid rain, smog and health problems. Senator Kerry has fought legislative efforts that would have interfered with Clean Air Act enforcement, and he called on the Clinton and Bush Administrations to pursue violators and enforce the law. This has been an important effort for the State of Massachusetts and local officials.
The Marine Environment
• When the Bush Administration signaled that it may overturn longstanding policy prohibiting oil and gas drilling off the coast of New England and especially in the fishing ground of Georges Bank, Senator Kerry moved to strengthen that prohibition. The Senator amended the law preventing drilling to ensure New England’s coast had the same protections are other federal waters. His provision became law in 2001.
• Senator Kerry was the lead cosponsor of the National Marine Sanctuaries Reauthorization Act of 2000 which increases funding levels for this national ocean program, including Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts. The Stellwagen is an important habitat for whales and other species central to the Massachusetts environment. The bill was signed into law by President Clinton.
Preserving Our Natural Landscape
• Senator Kerry was the original sponsor of legislation to designate the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers as National Wild & Scenic Rivers. Identical legislation was passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry cosponsored legislation to expand the Quinebaug-Shetucket National Heritage Corridor from 25 Connecticut towns into nine towns in southern Worcester County. The bill passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry sponsored legislation authorizing the National Park Service to study the Taunton River for designation within the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. After Massachusetts officials testified before a key Senate committee, the bill passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry has worked closely with the City of Boston to prevent flooding and develop open space along the Muddy River which runs from Brookline through the Boston Fenway to the Charles River. The Senator authored an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to study a comprehensive plan for the Muddy River. The legislation became law and the basis for additional study, funding and project development.
• Senator Kerry lead the effort to urge the White House to select the East Coast Greenway—a proposed non-motorized trail extending from Maine to Florida—as one of the National Flagship Millennium Trails. The Senator authored a bipartisan letter to the White House, and the trail was selected. The Massachusetts portion of the trail is planned to run up the Blackstone Heritage Corridor to Worcester, then east to Boston and finally to New Hampshire.
• Senator Kerry was a lead cosponsor of legislation to study the designation of the Upper Housatonic River as a National Heritage Area. The bill passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry has backed efforts to revitalize urban open space. He cosponsored an amendment to the Department of Interior Appropriations Bill to increase funding for urban parks throughout the nation, including Boston, which strongly supported the amendment. The amendment was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry has backed increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund which funds parks and open space preservation in Massachusetts and throughout the country. An amendment he cosponsored to increase funding was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry sponsored legislation to convey Coast Guard property in Scituate, Nantucket and Plum Island. These conveyances will benefit the communities of Scituate, Nantucket Plum Island and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts, which will use the property in Scituate.
Preventing Pollution
• Senator Kerry fought efforts to limit the ability of federal and state authorities to require the Department of Defense, the nation’s largest polluter, to comply with environmental and public health laws. This is an important issue for Cape Cod and other areas in Massachusetts working to protect water supplies and the environment from pollution resulting from Department of Defense activities.
• When a Senate committee moved to cut $20 million from the federal commitment to the Boston Harbor cleanup in the 1999 recission bill, Senator Kerry called on Senate appropriators to protect the funding. The cut, which had been inserted at committee markup, was struck and the funding was restored.
• Senator Kerry has joined with the entire Massachusetts and Connecticut delegations to support federal funding to assist Springfield and other Connecticut River Valley cities in reducing the pollution that flows into the Connecticut River.
While Senator Kerry has fought hard to help the people of Massachusetts preserve the Commonwealth and New England’s environment, he has also taken a lead in national and international environmental issues. Pollution knows no borders, and environmental degradation on the national and international level can affect all of us for generations to come. Here are just a few of the important issues on which Senator Kerry has been an advocate and leader for conservation.
Protecting Our Public Lands
Senator Kerry has lead the fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. President Bush has pledged to lease the Refuge’s coastal plain, its biological heart, to oil and gas companies. The resulting development will industrialize the Refuge and forever degrade its pristine ecosystem. Senator Kerry believes the benefits of drilling are simply too small and that the Refuge should be protected for future generations.
Safe Drinking Water
Senator Kerry voiced his strong opposition to President Bush’s attempt to rollback drinking water standards for arsenic. According to the National Academy of Sciences, arsenic in drinking water may cause several forms of cancer, damage heart and blood vessels, and may contribute to birth defects. Fortunately, the Bush Administration reversed course and implemented the original proposal to reduce arsenic in drinking water.
Clean Air
Senator Kerry has successfully fought legislative efforts to block the enforcement of the Clean Air Act at power plants, and he called on the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration to pursue violators and enforce law. Power plant emissions contribute to smog, soot, acid rain, toxic deposition and health problems. Senator Kerry has joined a bipartisan proposal to limit mercury, sulfur, nitrogen and carbon dioxide (commonly called the Four Pollutant Bill) from power plants.
Senator Kerry joined with other Senators to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate mercury emissions from power plants. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can accumulate in ecosystems and species, especially fish, and harm public health. The Agency announced its intention to regulate mercury emissions from power plants for the first time in 2000.
Global Warming and Ozone Depletion
Senator Kerry has been a leader in the national and international effort to reduce the threat of global warming. The Senator has called on the Bush Administration to fix and finalize the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, an international agreement to reduce global warming pollution. He authored a successful amendment to the Fiscal Year 2002 budget resolution that increased funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change research. Additionally, he authored a resolution that passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee calling on the Bush Administration to engage in international efforts to mitigate the threat of climate change.
Senator Kerry authored bipartisan legislation with Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska that would require the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, one of the first of its kind to be introduced in the Congress. This legislation would provide the framework for understanding how the nation can best reduce air pollution and the threat of global warming.
Senator Kerry joined with the late Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island and others to secure adequate funding for the implementation of the Montreal Protocol to Protect the Ozone Layer. Ozone depletion, caused by the emission of certain chemicals, increases UV radiation that is associated with short-term and long-term health effects. These include cataracts, ocular melanoma and other eye cancers, and death associated with cancers of the eye
Brownfields
Senator Kerry cosponsored legislation to increase federal support to restore polluted industrial sites to economic use. Called brownfields, many of these sites continue to pose environmental and public health threats and prevent the economic revitalization of neighborhoods around the nation. The bill was signed into law by President Bush.
The Marine Environment
Senator Kerry was a lead cosponsor of the Coral Reef Conservation Act, legislation to create a national program to preserve, sustain, and restore the condition of coral reef ecosystems. The bill was signed into law by President Clinton.
Senator Kerry cosponsored legislation to encourage the restoration of estuary habitat through more efficient project financing and enhanced coordination of federal and non-federal restoration programs. The bill was sponsored by the late Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island, and it was signed into law by Clinton.
Animal Welfare
Senator Kerry led the effort to fund the Animal Welfare Act. The funding, approximately $5.5 million, was dedicated to inspections, investigations and ensuring that animals raised and harvested for food are treated as humanely as possible. The effort was a leading initiative of the U.S. Humane Society. The funding was secured as part of the fiscal year 2002 budget.
Senator Kerry's concern for the environment has earned him a 100 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters (see his scorecard), an organization which closely monitors the environmental records of members of Congress. The League commended Kerry for his "unsurpassed leadership." The Sierra Club has stated that "there is no stronger advocate in the Senate for environmental protection than John Kerry." Kerry has also received a 100 percent rating from the Humane Society of the United States.
John Kerry has made environmental protection one of his top priorities as a United States Senator. His commitment to preserving the environment and protecting the public health comes from seeing first hand the damage that can be caused by pollution and a disregard of the environment. The Senator has worked on the local, national and international level to help preserve the natural world.
The people of Massachusetts have a special relationship with the natural world. From Cape Cod to the Berkshires, the citizens of the Commonwealth have organized to protect special environments all across the State. John Kerry has done all he can from the United States Senate to help them succeed. Here are just a few of the accomplishments of Senator Kerry and the local leaders of Massachusetts
Clean Air
• Senator Kerry has been a leader in the fight to protect New England’s air quality, especially from powerplants operating in the Midwest with few environmental safeguards. Pollution from those facilities is carried eastward to New England where it contributes to acid rain, smog and health problems. Senator Kerry has fought legislative efforts that would have interfered with Clean Air Act enforcement, and he called on the Clinton and Bush Administrations to pursue violators and enforce the law. This has been an important effort for the State of Massachusetts and local officials.
The Marine Environment
• When the Bush Administration signaled that it may overturn longstanding policy prohibiting oil and gas drilling off the coast of New England and especially in the fishing ground of Georges Bank, Senator Kerry moved to strengthen that prohibition. The Senator amended the law preventing drilling to ensure New England’s coast had the same protections are other federal waters. His provision became law in 2001.
• Senator Kerry was the lead cosponsor of the National Marine Sanctuaries Reauthorization Act of 2000 which increases funding levels for this national ocean program, including Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts. The Stellwagen is an important habitat for whales and other species central to the Massachusetts environment. The bill was signed into law by President Clinton.
Preserving Our Natural Landscape
• Senator Kerry was the original sponsor of legislation to designate the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers as National Wild & Scenic Rivers. Identical legislation was passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry cosponsored legislation to expand the Quinebaug-Shetucket National Heritage Corridor from 25 Connecticut towns into nine towns in southern Worcester County. The bill passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry sponsored legislation authorizing the National Park Service to study the Taunton River for designation within the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. After Massachusetts officials testified before a key Senate committee, the bill passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry has worked closely with the City of Boston to prevent flooding and develop open space along the Muddy River which runs from Brookline through the Boston Fenway to the Charles River. The Senator authored an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to study a comprehensive plan for the Muddy River. The legislation became law and the basis for additional study, funding and project development.
• Senator Kerry lead the effort to urge the White House to select the East Coast Greenway—a proposed non-motorized trail extending from Maine to Florida—as one of the National Flagship Millennium Trails. The Senator authored a bipartisan letter to the White House, and the trail was selected. The Massachusetts portion of the trail is planned to run up the Blackstone Heritage Corridor to Worcester, then east to Boston and finally to New Hampshire.
• Senator Kerry was a lead cosponsor of legislation to study the designation of the Upper Housatonic River as a National Heritage Area. The bill passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry has backed efforts to revitalize urban open space. He cosponsored an amendment to the Department of Interior Appropriations Bill to increase funding for urban parks throughout the nation, including Boston, which strongly supported the amendment. The amendment was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry has backed increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund which funds parks and open space preservation in Massachusetts and throughout the country. An amendment he cosponsored to increase funding was signed into law by President Clinton.
• Senator Kerry sponsored legislation to convey Coast Guard property in Scituate, Nantucket and Plum Island. These conveyances will benefit the communities of Scituate, Nantucket Plum Island and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts, which will use the property in Scituate.
Preventing Pollution
• Senator Kerry fought efforts to limit the ability of federal and state authorities to require the Department of Defense, the nation’s largest polluter, to comply with environmental and public health laws. This is an important issue for Cape Cod and other areas in Massachusetts working to protect water supplies and the environment from pollution resulting from Department of Defense activities.
• When a Senate committee moved to cut $20 million from the federal commitment to the Boston Harbor cleanup in the 1999 recission bill, Senator Kerry called on Senate appropriators to protect the funding. The cut, which had been inserted at committee markup, was struck and the funding was restored.
• Senator Kerry has joined with the entire Massachusetts and Connecticut delegations to support federal funding to assist Springfield and other Connecticut River Valley cities in reducing the pollution that flows into the Connecticut River.
While Senator Kerry has fought hard to help the people of Massachusetts preserve the Commonwealth and New England’s environment, he has also taken a lead in national and international environmental issues. Pollution knows no borders, and environmental degradation on the national and international level can affect all of us for generations to come. Here are just a few of the important issues on which Senator Kerry has been an advocate and leader for conservation.
Protecting Our Public Lands
Senator Kerry has lead the fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. President Bush has pledged to lease the Refuge’s coastal plain, its biological heart, to oil and gas companies. The resulting development will industrialize the Refuge and forever degrade its pristine ecosystem. Senator Kerry believes the benefits of drilling are simply too small and that the Refuge should be protected for future generations.
Safe Drinking Water
Senator Kerry voiced his strong opposition to President Bush’s attempt to rollback drinking water standards for arsenic. According to the National Academy of Sciences, arsenic in drinking water may cause several forms of cancer, damage heart and blood vessels, and may contribute to birth defects. Fortunately, the Bush Administration reversed course and implemented the original proposal to reduce arsenic in drinking water.
Clean Air
Senator Kerry has successfully fought legislative efforts to block the enforcement of the Clean Air Act at power plants, and he called on the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration to pursue violators and enforce law. Power plant emissions contribute to smog, soot, acid rain, toxic deposition and health problems. Senator Kerry has joined a bipartisan proposal to limit mercury, sulfur, nitrogen and carbon dioxide (commonly called the Four Pollutant Bill) from power plants.
Senator Kerry joined with other Senators to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate mercury emissions from power plants. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can accumulate in ecosystems and species, especially fish, and harm public health. The Agency announced its intention to regulate mercury emissions from power plants for the first time in 2000.
Global Warming and Ozone Depletion
Senator Kerry has been a leader in the national and international effort to reduce the threat of global warming. The Senator has called on the Bush Administration to fix and finalize the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, an international agreement to reduce global warming pollution. He authored a successful amendment to the Fiscal Year 2002 budget resolution that increased funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change research. Additionally, he authored a resolution that passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee calling on the Bush Administration to engage in international efforts to mitigate the threat of climate change.
Senator Kerry authored bipartisan legislation with Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska that would require the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, one of the first of its kind to be introduced in the Congress. This legislation would provide the framework for understanding how the nation can best reduce air pollution and the threat of global warming.
Senator Kerry joined with the late Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island and others to secure adequate funding for the implementation of the Montreal Protocol to Protect the Ozone Layer. Ozone depletion, caused by the emission of certain chemicals, increases UV radiation that is associated with short-term and long-term health effects. These include cataracts, ocular melanoma and other eye cancers, and death associated with cancers of the eye
Brownfields
Senator Kerry cosponsored legislation to increase federal support to restore polluted industrial sites to economic use. Called brownfields, many of these sites continue to pose environmental and public health threats and prevent the economic revitalization of neighborhoods around the nation. The bill was signed into law by President Bush.
The Marine Environment
Senator Kerry was a lead cosponsor of the Coral Reef Conservation Act, legislation to create a national program to preserve, sustain, and restore the condition of coral reef ecosystems. The bill was signed into law by President Clinton.
Senator Kerry cosponsored legislation to encourage the restoration of estuary habitat through more efficient project financing and enhanced coordination of federal and non-federal restoration programs. The bill was sponsored by the late Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island, and it was signed into law by Clinton.
Animal Welfare
Senator Kerry led the effort to fund the Animal Welfare Act. The funding, approximately $5.5 million, was dedicated to inspections, investigations and ensuring that animals raised and harvested for food are treated as humanely as possible. The effort was a leading initiative of the U.S. Humane Society. The funding was secured as part of the fiscal year 2002 budget.
Senator Kerry's concern for the environment has earned him a 100 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters (see his scorecard), an organization which closely monitors the environmental records of members of Congress. The League commended Kerry for his "unsurpassed leadership." The Sierra Club has stated that "there is no stronger advocate in the Senate for environmental protection than John Kerry." Kerry has also received a 100 percent rating from the Humane Society of the United States.
posted by Pamela J. Leavey at 12:16 AM
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