FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 22, 2005
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The White House - Office of the Press Secretary
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President Celebrates Earth Day |
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McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base
Knoxville, Tennessee
12:55 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: It's great to be back in the state of Tennessee -- I'm sorry
we're not at the Great Smoky National Park. Senator Lamar Alexander has been
urging me to come to the park and see the great beauty of a part of the world
where he was raised. I'm proud to be traveling with Senator Bill Frist, the
great Majority Leader of the United States Senate from the state of Tennessee;
and Lamar Alexander. The thing about old Lamar is he's constantly reminding me
that without Tennessee, Texas wouldn't be much. (Laughter.)
I appreciate traveling with Congressman Jimmy Duncan, the congressman from
this district. I remember all too well going to the Duncan Family picnic that he
gave. Evidently, he's got a pretty good sized family, since there was about
15,000 people there. (Laughter.) I'm proud to be with Bill Jenkins, from East
Tennessee; and Zach Wamp, Congressman Wamp. We had a good visit on the airplane,
talking about issues that are important to Tennessee and our country. It's an
honor to work with these fine leaders, as we work to protect our country and
secure our country and enhance the prosperity of our country.
I'm traveling as well with the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. One of
her jobs is to oversee the national parks of our country; as well as Acting
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Steve Johnson. I picked
Steve to head the EPA. I did so because like me and like the folks serving in
Congress here, we care about our environment. He also comes from the ranks of
the EPA, he knows the agency; he knows how to work with local folks to get
things done. And I urge the Senate to confirm him as quickly as possible.
Before I begin, it was an honor to meet Pat Summitt, basketball coach of the
Lady Vols. I told her I was heading down to Crawford, which is right next door
to Baylor. And she said, well, make sure you say hello to one of my pupils -- a
person she coached -- Kim Mulkey Roberts. So I'm going to do that. If you're
watching TV, Kim, Pat sends her best. What an honorable woman Pat Summitt is and
what a great role model she is for those of us who aspire to leadership.
In the park, had I been there, I would have reminded people today is Earth
Day, a day in which we recommit ourselves to being good stewards of our land. We
didn't create this Earth, but we have an obligation to protect it. One of the
interesting things about our nation is that since 1970, the air is cleaner and
the water is more pure and we're using our land better; and our economy has
grown a lot. My point is, it's possible to have economic growth and jobs and
opportunity and, at the same time, be wise stewards of the land.
I remember traveling with Lamar down here one time and he said, I want you to
understand and I want you to pay attention to the ozone levels in the Smokies.
And so I did a little research and I'm proud to report since 2000, the ozone
levels have dropped -- but there is more to be done to make sure the Smoky
Mountains and the Smoky Mountain National Park is as beautiful as possible.
And I want to share with you, too, two issues that we have worked together on
that will make a difference -- not only to the folks here in Tennessee, but
around the country. First, we have finalized a rule that will cut pollution from
heavy diesel engines by 90 percent. We worked with the manufacturers of those
engines and we've come up with a way to reduce pollution from diesel engines,
and that's going to help a lot.
And, secondly, I put forth a rule -- a series of rules called the Clear Skies
Initiative, which will cut air pollution from coal-fired power plants by 70
percent. This is a common sense approach to dealing with this important issue.
We use a market based system, a cap and trade system to provide flexibility so
that the power plants can meet the goals we set of reducing pollution by 70
percent. The initiatives we did through executive order are important, but it
would sure be helpful if Congress passed the Clear Skies legislation, as well.
The water quality of the United States is good because we're strictly
enforcing the law. Ninety percent of the United States have water that meets
very stringent health standards. That's up, by the way, from about 74 percent.
And we'll continue to work hard to make sure everybody has got good water.
One of the initiatives I announced on Earth Day last year was to restore,
improve and protect 3 million acres of wetlands over a five year period of time.
The policy used to be no net loss. I thought we needed to be more aggressive on
wetlands. And so the new goal is to restore, improve or protect 3 million acres
of land. This year we enhanced 830,000 acres, so we're on our way to meeting
that goal and that's good for the country.
The farm bill is working, and I appreciate the members behind me who
understand the importance of the conservation reserve program, which helps our
ranchers and farmers restore grasslands and build valuable habitat for wild
life. I was concerned about forest fires that have decimated a lot of our
national treasures, so I worked with the Congress to pass the Healthy Forest
Restoration Act. I want to thank Senator Frist for working that piece of
legislation through the Senate. Last year, as a result of that bill, we removed
hazardous fuels in forested areas -- over 10 million acres. It's really an
important piece of legislation, to be wise about how we conserve our national
forests. We're making good progress when it comes to restoring industrial sites
through the brownfields initiative. We've restored 1,200 abandoned industrial
sites since I've been the President and converted them to productive use.
One of my concerns back when I first started running for President was to
make sure that our national park system worked well for all our citizens. The
parks belong to the people. And the parks should be accessible to the people. A
lot of good folks use our parks, but as a result of not paying close attention
to the maintenance backlogs in our parks, some of the parks weren't meeting the
standards that we should expect. And so I laid out a five-year initiative to
spend $4.9 billion to end the maintenance backlog of our parks. We'll meet that
initiative when Congress meets my budget request this year. I want to thank
Senator Frist, Senator Alexander and the members of the Congress for supporting
this important park initiative.
We spent $20 million last year in the Smokies on maintenance backlog. In
other words, we have an obligation to maintain these valuable assets on behalf
of the people, and we're meeting that obligation. Secretary Gale Norton and Fran
Mainella, who runs our park system, are doing a fine job of setting clear
priorities and explaining to Congress the nature of those priorities, and then
restoring these parks back to where they need to be so people can use them.
I wish I had been there at the park to thank the park rangers who work so
hard to make sure our parks are accessible to our citizens. The rangers are a
fabulous group of people -- whether they be here in Tennessee or around the
nation -- and they work hard on behalf of the citizens of our country. But one
of the things that makes our park system work well is the fact that there are a
lot of volunteers all across America who want to work in the parks. I don't know
if you realize this, in this part of the world, but there are 2,000 volunteers
who work in the Smokies. Doesn't surprise me, after all, this is the Volunteer
State.
If you're interested in serving, if conservation interests you, if you want
to be a part of our national effort to be good stewards of the environment, you
ought to go on to the
usafreedomcorps.gov website. It's a website we set up to encourage
volunteerism in America. And if you volunteer to serve in a national park, to
restore trails, for example, you'll find a lot of other good citizens right
there with you.
So my message to the good folks of Tennessee on Earth Day is we have a duty
and an obligation to protect our environment. We're meeting that obligation. But
that obligation is not just a federal obligation -- there is a state obligation,
a local obligation and each of us as citizens can do our part, as well.
I appreciate you all coming out. I'm honored to be traveling with some fine
members of the congressional delegation from Tennessee. May God continue to
bless the good folks of Tennessee and our country. Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
END 1:05 P.M. EDT
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