Contrary to the March 21 editorial "Environmental Impasse," President Bush has demonstrated leadership on improving the environment.
The president has forged a bipartisan consensus with Congress on issues that include:
• Brownfields legislation to redevelop abandoned industrial sites.
• The Healthy Forests Restoration Act.
• A farm bill that provides more than $40 billion to expand conservation efforts during the coming decade.
• A 70 percent regulatory cut in power-plant emissions for eastern states.
• A 90 percent regulatory cut in diesel emissions from non-road sources such as construction and industrial equipment.
• A regulatory increase in the fuel economy of light trucks and SUVs beginning this model year, the first in a decade.
We expect continued success as Congress completes work on legislation to:
• Ratify an international treaty outlawing harmful pollutants worldwide.
• Provide more than $4 billion in tax incentives for consumers to purchase more efficient energy systems and vehicles.
• Enact the president's Clear Skies initiative to expand the Clean Air Act's most successful program and cut power plant pollution nationwide by an additional 70 percent.
JAMES L. CONNAUGHTON
Chairman
White House Council on Environmental Quality
Washington
