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While our news is flooded with discussion of war, dangerous attacks on our safeguards for clean air, clean water and public lands are under way and receiving unacceptably scarce news coverage. Let it be known that the environment is being threatened by the current administration. We are in a state of orange alert on the environment. 

In the early 1970s, environmental protection policies were strengthened as the environmental movement was supported and encouraged by the administrations in office. 

Laws limiting industrial pollution to air and water, such as the national Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Air Act, were put in place to protect public health and the environment, and millions of acres of wilderness were legally protected from logging. 

Since Bush has taken office, environmental issues not only have been neglected, but the administration has been weakening previously established environmental protection policies. Never before has an administration so blatantly favored corporate over public interests.  

The Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program requires old coal- and oil-burning power plants — which emit 10 times more pollution than modern power plants — to install state-of the-art pollution controls whenever they make major pollution-increasing additions. The administration today has been persuaded by oil, coal and utility lobbyists to propose a weakening of the NSR that would endanger public health and environmental cycles. 

Another issue being debated is the protection of public lands. Thirty years of study, two years of rule making and 600 public hearings went into the construction of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule that would shield 58.5 million acres of wild forests from most logging and road building. The Bush administration has listened to the timber, oil and gas industries, and the rule is again open for alterations. Though 2.2 million people have voiced support for the roadless rule, it is the corporations to whom the administration is heeding. 

Our water is also under attack. The national Safe Drinking Water Act was altered in March, raising the legal level of arsenic allowed in public drinking water. 

In all of these cases, the interests of industries have been favored; companies are permitted to discharge more pollutants, and their responsibilities to clean up after themselves are loosened. These propositions make up Bush’s environmental policy. 

Let’s look at the effects of these alterations. Soot and smog pollution from industries is already responsible for tens of thousands of asthma attacks every year and the destruction of wilderness through acid rain. The weakening of the NSR would cause unacceptable increases in death and disease, and environmental damage. Our national forests would be drastically reduced in size if changes to the Roadless Conservation Rule are passed. And allowing more toxins to remain in drinking water by rolling back on the Safe Drinking Water Act threatens public health and safety. 

This administration’s obvious ties to corporate leaders are giving companies dangerously powerful influence in policy making. Since it is our air, water and wildlife at stake, it is imperative we voice our opinions on these issues and urge the administration to protect the American people and environment instead of listening to corporate lobbyists. 

April 22 is Earth Day, a national holiday created in 1970 as a day of celebration for our environment. This year’s goals will be to defend our environmental protection policies by informing the public and helping people to voice their opinions. On the UC Berkeley campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and at the Crossroads Dining Facility from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., there will be Earth Day events such as Eco-Chats with professors, letter-writing and chances to learn more about environmental issues. 

Now is the time to get involved. Let’s speak up for public interests and demand protection of our environment. 

Julia Beers is a UC Berkeley freshman and CalPIRG member.