With Earth Day on Sunday and his environmental record under attack, President Bush this morning announced that he will sign and ask the Senate to ratify a treaty to ban or reduce the use of 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs), chemicals like PCBs and pesticides that have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and genetic abnormalities in humans and wildlife. The treaty was negotiated for the U.S. by the Clinton administration and will not have much direct impact on the country, where the 12 POPs have mostly been phased out already. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Bush said, “This treaty shows the possibilities for cooperation among all parties to our environmental debates. Developed nations cooperated with less-developed nations, businesses cooperated with environmental groups, and now a Republican administration will continue and complete the work of a Democratic administration.”
