Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
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Earth Day 2002: Environmental Update
April 22, 2002
Roadless Areas in our National Forests
I will soon introduce bi-partisan legislation, the "National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act," to protect inventoried roadless areas. The Clinton administration took bold, yet necessary steps to permanently protect nearly 59 million acres of roadless areas in our National Forests from most logging and road building. Unfortunately, the rule hangs in legal limbo and the current administration plans to rewrite most of the rule to possibly allow more logging, mining, and drilling in these environmentally sensitive areas. This roadless rule was a two-year rulemaking process during which the U.S. Forest Service held more than 600 meetings. Moreover, 1.6 million people submitted comments on this plan, the vast majority of which were in support of strong forest protections. Presently, 51 percent of our National Forests remain open for logging, mining, and other resource activities, while only 18 percent have been designated as wilderness areas. This rule, and my bill, will ensure that the last 31 percent remains untouched and protected from logging, mining and road building. The rule and bill apply only to inventoried roadless areas on federal land within the National Forest System, and do not affect private forests. Scientists, religious organizations, hunters, economists, and citizens have all enthusiastically backed this forest protection plan.
The "National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act" will make the previous Administration's roadless conservation plan the law of the land and prevent the President from weakening it. As Ranking Member of the Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee, I will continue to strongly oppose all efforts to roll back protections for our National Forests.
Global Warming/Clean Air
We must take the necessary steps to protect our environment from the very real threat of global warming due to carbon pollution. Rising global temperatures will likely raise sea levels and significantly change global weather patterns. These phenomena will put additional pressure on threatened and endangered species throughout the world causing agricultural dislocation, and increasing the occurrence of economically and socially damaging weather related disasters. I was, therefore, disheartened that President Bush simply walked away from the Kyoto Treaty without presenting a viable alternative. In addition, I am also alarmed that the President may now attempt to carve loopholes into the Clean Air Act by relaxing regulations on nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide. Carbon dioxide is emitted whenever fossil fuels such as coal and oil are burned. Power plants that run on these fuels emit large quantities of carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides, which pollute our air, threaten public health, or contribute to global warming. To stem this tide, I have cosponsored H.R. 1256, the Clean Smokestacks Act. This legislation would require polluting power plants to modernize their facilities and reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, carbon dioxide, and mercury in a manner that is both cost efficient and technically feasible.
Mining Reform
Hard-rock mining (gold, silver, uranium, etc.) presents a large threat to our public lands when done irresponsibly. The federal government estimates that mining has polluted 180,000 acres of lakes and is responsible for slightly less than half, 3.6 billion pounds, of all toxic releases by all U.S. industries combined. Clearly, we need to have firm and consistent environmental performance standards for mining on public lands. President Bush, however, has rolled back mining reform regulations that set up rules to protect water and the environment from poisoning by arsenic and other heavy metals. The rules that the President rolled back would have given most states the authority to deny proposed mining operations if such mining caused substantial irreparable harm. I have passed two amendments on the floor of the House to reign in the bad actors in the mining industry. I will follow this issue closely and, if necessary, again pursue legislative action to make sure that these mines meet minimal environmental performance standards.
Old Growth Forests
The Northwest Forest Plan was adopted by the Clinton Administration in 1994 to protect endangered species in old growth forests and reduce the amount of old growth timber logged in the Northwest. Currently, only about 5 percent of original old growth stands remain in the Northwest. At the same time, we have a very large need for restoration work in our forests, including the decommissioning old logging roads that wash into salmon streams, removing and replacing culverts that prevent fish passage, and vegetative and aquatic restoration. This Administration has recently sent signals that they may overhaul the Northwest Forest Plan in order to free up even more large tracts of mature and old growth forests for logging in the Northwest. To avoid increased old growth cutting, while still providing an economic base for rural towns, I will be introducing legislation to protect our last remaining old growth and provide funding and incentives to address our restoration needs in our forests. I believe that this will strike an important balance by protecting our most vulnerable old growth ecosystems while also restoring habitat and creating rural jobs.