George Bush’s Life in 13 Objects
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In his 1989 campaign for the presidency, Mr. Bush, a former oil executive, promised to be the “environmental president.” He vowed to strengthen the Clean Air Act and to find common ground between economic and environmental interests. After taking office, he appointed a professional conservationist to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Paradoxically, a major environmental catastrophe, and one of the largest oil spills in American history, occurred during Mr. Bush’s tenure in the White House. In March 1989, the Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground on Bligh Reef, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound in Alaska. The spill damaged 1,500 miles of coastline, killed hundreds of thousands of marine mammals and birds, and devastated local communities. This $20 bill, dirtied with the oiled fingerprints of a worker on the cleanup effort, is just one of hundreds of objects linked to the spill that the Valdez Museum has collected.
Exxon was held responsible for the disaster, and Mr. Bush was mostly spared criticism. While Congress was initially critical of the administration’s slow response, the president subsequently sent many high-level officials to Alaska, including the head of the E.P.A., the transportation secretary, the commander of the Coast Guard, the interior secretary and the vice president. Ultimately, the spill is thought to have worked in his favor, as it is credited with encouraging lawmakers and the public to support amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990.
But for some who were hit directly by the effects of the spill, the federal government’s response was lacking. “The Bush legacy in Prince William Sound is oiled beaches, sick wildlife, sick former cleanup workers, and a lot of hardships that the towns survived — all costs of America’s oil dependency that have been swept under the carpet,” said Riki Ott, a local resident and marine toxicologist.
12. The N.R.A. Breakup
Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/16/opinions/why-we-lost-aleppo/index.html
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