Thursday, September 23, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Bush reversing gains, actor says

Redford criticizes environmental record

Actor Robert Redford talks with the news media Wednesday at the Rainbow Library. He spoke at an environmental symposium. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

Actor-director Robert Redford on Wednesday attacked the Bush administration's track record on the environment, telling a crowd of more than 200 that protecting the nation's land, air and water should be a bipartisan priority not weakened by self-serving political leadership.

"I'm hoping we're moving to that day when the environment is above politics. It's your environment," Redford, 67, said at the Rainbow Library amphitheater.

His speech capped those by a panel of speakers featuring Martha Marks, president of Republicans for Environmental Protection; Grace Potorti of the Nevada Conservation League; state Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas; and Greg Wetstone, executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Accountability Fund, the event's sponsor.

Redford, a conservationist for some 30 years who helped shape the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, accused Bush and his advisers of eroding the laws through policies that allow the oil and gas industries and coal-fired power companies to delay compliance at the expense of public health and the environment.

The administration, he said, has lost the bipartisan support that led to compromises and the creation of environmental laws.

"God forbid that we should ever let things slide where we lose that balance," he said.

He criticized President Bush's effort to forge ahead with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project despite legal concerns over the radiation protection standard and despite advice from scientists to seek other solutions for disposing of the nation's most deadly waste.

"When you narrow it down to specifics like Yucca Mountain and Yucca flat, you've got to be kidding," he said. "The consequence is toxic, and it's toxicity that's not going to go away overnight."

In his speech and in an interview before it, he never mentioned Bush's opponent, Democrat John Kerry.

He said he did not come to Las Vegas on behalf of the Kerry campaign but said he is voting Democrat while also supporting "a lot of Republicans."

In the interview, he said the most crucial environmental issue the nation faces is the current administration with "its attitudes and policies that it's trying to jam down our throats," not the least of which is its plan to entomb nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"Nevada is a great microcosm of the problem because you have a situation endemic throughout the country and the West. But what makes it particularly acute is it contains such enormous health hazard issues for not only this generation but many more," said Redford.

Redford questioned a poll conducted last week for the Review-Journal that found 1 percent of the voters think the environment will be most influential in their voting decision.

"I've found more than not people are concerned about the environment. I think the environment is a bigger issue than the media in general and the polls have shown," he said.

Marks said Redford is "absolutely right" about Bush's policies on the environment.

"It's a sad thing because our party has a long and proud history of conservation and environmental protection that's getting flushed down the toilet," she said.