The environment got the most attention it’s ever received in a presidential debate last night, with much of the focus on global warming. Vice President Al Gore argued that actions must be taken now to combat global warming, and that there would be great economic gains for the U.S. if it were the country to lead the charge on producing clean cars and other eco-friendly technologies. Gore said, “I want to be able to tell my grandson when I’m in my later years that I didn’t turn away from the evidence that showed that we were doing some serious harm.” The vice president also called attention to the pollution problems in Texas, Gov. George W. Bush’s home state, and criticized Bush’s plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. For his part, Bush questioned whether the science on global warming was clear and said that the Kyoto climate change treaty would unfairly place upon the U.S. “the burden for cleaning up the world’s air.” He contended that the Clinton-Gore administration has not sought much local input in its environmental decision-making, criticized the administration’s plan to ban road-building on 40 million acres of pristine national forest land, and repeated a favorite line of his: “If you own the land, every day is Earth Day.”
