The United States: Another Leap Backward?

• Author: Ehrlich, Paul
• Position: Environmental policy - Brief Article

The United States is responsible for more environmental devastation than any other nation, as indicated by America's use of about a quarter of the world's energy and its accounting for almost the same proportion of [CO.sub.2] emissions. To reduce pressure on human life-support systems, we must set an example for other countries by establishing a population policy that halts our rapid population growth (13 percent since 1990) and by initiating a national dialogue on curbing runaway consumption while increasing Americans' quality of life. Finding the best policies and political support for these critical goals will require far-reaching, widely accepted commitments, which cannot be achieved when so many people feel cut off from the prosperity of the majority.

Two decades ago, Ronald Reagan derailed progress towards environmental quality by, among other things, flushing progressive individuals out of agencies such as the Departments of Interior and Energy and the EPA, and opposing reproductive rights. Now we're facing another administration committed to expanding corporate rights to abuse the environment and reducing social and economic equity. President Bush may have difficulty using Congress to dismantle environmental and social progress, but his backward-looking cabinet selections show a clear intent to do so by employing the Executive Branch's vast discretionary powers. Gale Norton at Interior appears to be a James Watt clone. When the new Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was in the Senate, he blocked action to increase vehicle fuel economy, pushed oil exploration in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, and helped cut budgets for R&D on renewable energy resources. At the Department of Justice, John Ashcroft will surely fight to...