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Letters to the
Editor
Putting the Bush Tax Rebate to
Good Use
Dear Editor;
When your neighbor uses the $600 from his tax
rebate to make this
month's payment on his boat-sized SUV, remember where G.W. Bush plans to
get the money from: Slashing funds for research on solar and wind energy in
half, cutting EPA's budget to enforce environmental laws, and eliminating
money for programs that protect wetlands and wildlife habitat.
Bush is confident that voters will reward him and his allies in Congress
for this outrage.
But we're going to do a little political judo with our tax rebates, using
Bush's own instrument to UNDO his plans: we'll spend it combating the worst
anti-environmentalists in Congress. We're sending our rebates to a group
called the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), which will use every penny
to fight Bush's pro-polluter allies in Congress -- and beat them at the
ballot box.
The President thinks that sending everyone a check will boost his
political agenda. We're going to make sure that just the opposite happens.
LCV has set up a link (http://www.lcv.org/RecycleTheRebate)
for anyone who wants to join us in putting a small piece of their tax cut
to good use. (All politics is local, so half the money will go to state
conservation voter leagues.)
Sincerely,
Denis Hayes Harriett Crosby
Chairman of Earth Day Environmental Activist
Will Michigan's DEQ Allow the
Perrier Company to Sell Great Lakes Water?
Dear Friend,
Clean fresh water is a dwindling resource around the globe. At least a
third of the planet's six billion people do not have access to regular
supplies of fresh water.
Steady population growth promises more thirsty people. Is Michigan really
ready to allow the Perrier Company to sell 262 million gallons of Great
Lakes water and receive little in return?
The state DEQ could decide this month.
The company asserts that withdrawing so much water will not harm the
environment or surrounding homeowners - a point hotly debated by critics
and supporters.
The Michigan Land Use Institute and other conservation groups, meanwhile,
are asking penetrating questions about the wisdom of Michigan's water law,
which now allows a major transnational company to sell an invaluable and
increasingly scarce public resource - clean, fresh water, essentially
without paying anything for it.
The DEQ's review, based on the current law, is focused almost exclusively
on whether Perrier's new well is technically sound and the water coming
from it will not harm public health.
The Institute's work on the Perrier proposal is part of an expanding
program here to understand and contribute to the growing debate over the
management of Michigan's most important global resource. The Institute has
recommended important changes to bring the state's 19th century water law
into the 21st century.
Trust your summer is going well,
Keith Schneider, program director.
Michigan Land Use Institute
The Review welcomes your letters & comments. Please address all
correspondence to:
Letters to the Editor - Review Magazine
318 S. Hamilton St.
Saginaw, MI 48602
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