Bush Announces U.S. to Sign Pact to Ban Chemicals

Upset over his anti-environment image, President Bush staged a high-profile White House ceremony Thursday to announce that the United States will sign a global treaty to ban 12 lethal chemicals.

The Rose Garden event was Bush’s most ambitious attempt yet to demonstrate his environmental bona fides after a series of controversial acts widely regarded as pro-industry and anti-environment.

“It’s inconceivable that Bush would have held this event had he not been in trouble on the environment,” said Evans Witt, president of Princeton Survey Research Associates, an independent public opinion sampling firm.

In an interview after the White House event, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman acknowledged that Bush is “very frustrated” by some people’s view of him as being anti-environment.

She said the administration’s “overall” record on the environment is “really very good.”

“His natural instincts are to do the right thing by the environment,” she added.

As Bush spoke in the Rose Garden, he was flanked by Whitman and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, two of his most prominent Cabinet members. They spoke as well.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s trying to counteract what appeared to be anti-environmental moves early in his administration,” Witt said.

Later in the day, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer disputed that notion. He characterized the event as “part of a continuing pattern” by Bush of making “significant announcements . . . where he brings attention to his environmental initiatives.” Fleischer noted that during the campaign Bush staged an announcement “very much like today” at Lake Tahoe in Nevada to propose new spending initiatives for land and water conservation.

Many of the president’s more recent and controversial environmental policy decisions have been disclosed in news releases issued by the EPA.

Fleischer said during his daily news briefing that Bush does not react to public opinion polls. He quoted the president as telling his staff: “These decisions should be made on the basis of the merits and science, not public relations.”

The treaty, to be signed next month in Stockholm by Whitman, was agreed to by 122 countries in December after 2 1/2 years of negotiations.

The agreement, which would require Senate ratification, bans 12 highly toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer, birth defects and other health abnormalities.

“The risks are great, and the need for action is clear,” Bush said. “We must work to eliminate or at least to severely restrict the release of these toxins, without delay.”

The pact calls for the eventual elimination of PCBs, dioxin and 10 other chemicals that now are commonly denigrated as “the dirty dozen.” It would allow the continued use of electrical equipment containing PCBs--or polychlorinated biphenyls--until 2025, as long as the equipment does not leak. The treaty also would allow the use of the pesticide DDT until more cost-effective methods are found to fight malaria.

The U.S. already has banned or restricted use of the chemicals covered under the treaty, and most have not been produced for years.

When the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was announced four months ago, Greenpeace, one of the most vociferous environmental protection groups, hailed the breakthrough as “the beginning of the end of toxic pollution.”

The U.S. now provides more than $19 million for programs to fight the 12 pollutants, and it will continue to do so, Powell said.

“The president has nothing to lose by doing this,” said Arlie Schardt, president of Environmental Media Services, referring to Bush’s announcement.

“It’s not controversial. It doesn’t have any of the pressures from special-interest industries that have driven a lot of his other anti-environmental decisions,” said Schardt, whose organization played a role in the treaty negotiations.

During the 2000 campaign, Bush faced strong criticism from many environmental groups and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore. Since assuming office nearly 100 days ago, Bush has taken actions that have antagonized environmental activists.

The administration has rolled back or delayed implementation of several environmental regulations adopted by President Clinton in his final days in office. One was a rule to tighten restrictions on arsenic in drinking water. Bush also came under fire for dropping a campaign pledge to cap carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and to abandon the U.S. involvement in the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty on global warming.

Since then, however, the Bush administration has taken several pro-environment actions to counter the intense criticism from environmentalists, such as upholding one Clinton administration rule to reduce lead emissions and another regulation to extend wetlands protection.

“They’re all based on trying to strike that balance between protecting the environment and allowing people to enjoy the quality of life they’ve come to expect,” Whitman said.

“It’s about understanding that you can have a strong and vibrant economy and a healthy environment. So what you’re going to see as far as this administration’s approach to the environment is going to be a case-by-case review of these issues.”

During the brief Rose Garden ceremony, Bush said: “This treaty shows the possibilities for cooperation among all parties to our environmental debate. Developed nations cooperated with less-developed nations. Businesses cooperated with environmental groups. And now a Republican administration will continue and complete the work of a Democratic administration. This is the way environmental policy should work.”

While many environmental groups hailed Bush’s announcement, some also made clear that he has a long way to go before he can reverse public opinion on his positions on the environment.

“Of all the environmental hazards now facing America’s national parks, national forests, national monuments and other public lands, the Bush administration’s anti-environmental proposals currently pose the greatest threat,” the Wilderness Society said in a statement to mark the 31st observation of Earth Day on Sunday.