What did the White House do on Earth Day?

It occurred to me earlier today that we didn’t hear much about Earth Day from the White House this year. “Perhaps they forgot,” I thought. But a quick trip to the White House web page revealed that they had one of their lovely Ask the White House sessions where a staff member answers preselected questions from the public. On Earth Day, Jim Connaughton, Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality took part in a session and boy did they pick hard questions for him. Here are the questions and excepts from the answers, which are questionable at times in their accuracy and severely spun at others to imply that the President has a positive record on the environment, an assertion well-disputed by most environmental groups.

1. What exactly is Earth Day? Why is there an Earth Day?
   “…It’s a day that reminds us that we must be good stewards of our natural resources. To the President, Earth Day is a reminder that we can’t take our land and resources for granted…”
2. What is the President doing for Earth Day?
   “…The President is in New Orleans…The President planted a Shumard oak tree as a reminder of our global duty to protect the environment. New Orleans lost about 250,000 trees to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita …. Replanting trees is vital not only to recovery of the city’s character, but also its environment.” And?
3. On this particular Earth Day, we find ourselves in a dire situation with Global Warming and all its side affects. What is our government doing to help heal our planet before it is to late?
   “…We are working internationally as well. As a contribution to discussions under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, President Bush brought together the world’s major economies for a series of high-level meetings to recommend ideas for how to move forward on energy security and climate change issues after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012….The President believes addressing climate change is a long-term effort and must be done without harming our economy or hurting American workers, something that would simply move emissions from America to other countries and do little or nothing to address the environmental problem….” Wow, it’s as if we have been doing something about climate change by not doing anything.
4. How are we doing meeting the Pesident’s goal of moving past no-net-loss of wetlands?
   “…On Earth Day 2004, President Bush declared that the nation had at last accomplished the government’s twenty year old policy of “no net loss of wetlands in America” (which his father as President had established). President Bush then announced that it was time for a new policy that would produce an overall increase of our nation’s wetlands…” Pesident? Tell that to the people living aroud the Klamath river.
5. Hello May I know how environmental friendly is The White House? Thanks
   “Hello Joyce – this is one my favorite questions, since I work in the White House! I have had the privilege to be part of a very motivated and creative team that has worked to make the White House complex a leading example of the practical things that can be done to be sensible stewards of the environment…” Guess what happens when you do a Google search for “Joyce from Singapore”? It looks like Joyce has a lot of her questions answered by the White House.
6. What is the administration doing for ocean conservation?
   “…As a scuba-diver, sailor, and all around water guy, this subject is a particular personal passion..(Insert laundry list of activities)..We are probably the only country in the world that is giving ocean conservation this level of attention…” Can someone verify all of these programs. There really do seem to be a lot? Kudos to Mr Connaughton.

I particularly liked the misspelling of “president” in question 4. Was that a White House flub or out of all the questions they could have chosen to answer, did they pick the one with the typo? Only John from Maryland, who asked the question will ever really know. I urge you to read his answers in full and to look more closely at Mr. Connaughton’s record. For example Talking Points Memo remembers Mr. Connaughton’s role in forcing the EPA to suppress data on the possible toxicity of the air and dust in lower Manhattan in the name of “national security.”