Mystery Ads Blow Smoke Over Bush's Clean Air Record

Gov. George W. Bush's clean air record is quite cloudy By Cat Lazaroff Environmental News Service WASHINGTON, DC, March 3, 2000 (ENS) - A group calling itself Republicans for Clean Air has sponsored almost $2 million in television ads applauding the clean air record of Texas Governor George W. Bush, a Republican candidate for President. Environmental groups have attacked the ads, and the previously unknown group running them, as misleading and filled with "half truths." Republicans for Clean Air has never before run political advertisements, or appeared in any new stories, and is unknown to both environmental and political groups. The Bush campaign claims to know nothing about the group or its ads. The television air time for the ads was purchased by Lydia Meurat, executive director of a political action committee led by Representative Henry Bonilla, Republican of Texas, a Bush supporter. Meurat says she has been instructed not to reveal the identity of the man who hired her, and that she knows little about the mystery group. A press release from rival Republican candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, says the firm that placed the ads is MultiMedia, an ad placement subsidiary of Fabrizio McLaughlin & Associates. The principle owner of MultiMedia is Tony Fabrizio, a longtime consultant for New York Governor George Pataki, a Republican and a supporter of Bush. The ads tout Bush’s record and attack McCain’s. "Last year, John McCain voted against solar and renewable energy," begins the New York version of the ad. Other versions are playing in Ohio and San Francisco. "That means more use of coal-burning plants that pollute our air. New York Republicans care about clean air. So does Governor Bush. He led one of the first states in America to clamp down on old coal-burning electric power plants," the ads say. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) calls the ads "misleading," and points out that Bush has passed only voluntary emissions reductions rules for these plants. Less than 15 percent of Texas' 830 grandfathered plants have agreed to voluntarily cut emissions. Since then, air pollution in Texas has continued to worsen and in 1999 Houston surpassed Los Angeles as the U.S. city most choked by smog. "By praising Gov. Bush's record on air quality, this ad seriously strains all limits of credulity," said League president Deb Callahan. "It's a well-known fact that under the Bush administration, air quality in Texas has gotten worse, not better. Strategically, this ad appears to be a preemptive strike to misinform voters about Bush's dirty record on clean air before his opponents have a chance to make this a campaign issue." "When George W. Bush had the tremendous opportunity to clean up the air in Texas, he was more interested in appeasing polluters than in protecting the public's health," Callahan said. "Today, thanks to Bush's short-sighted policies, Houston has worse smog than Los Angeles, and 28 of Texas' 50 largest industries still violate the Clean Air Act. If Bush brings his radical, hands-off approach to environmental protection to the White House, the public's health and our environment could suffer very real setbacks." "Praising George Bush on clean air is like thanking John Rocker for his contribution to civil rights," said Susan Holmes, Sierra Club New York Regional Representative. "This ad is an insult to New York Republicans who are smart enough to see past Bush's smoke and mirrors." "The truth is that there is no way to spin the Bush record on air pollution in Texas," said Holmes. "Texas is No 1 in toxic releases, No. 1 in total toxic air emissions from industrial facilities, No. 1 in toxic chemical accidents, No. 1 in cancer-causing pollution. And in 1999, Houston became the Smog Capital of the United States, grabbing the No. 1 spot from Los Angeles." Callahan also noted that the misleading ad seems to be an effort to pull the support of women voters away from McCain. "We have always found that environmental health and safety issues are most politically persuasive to women between the ages of 25 and 45. This ad, coupled with efforts this week to question McCain's record on breast cancer research, appear to be a coordinated effort to target women voters." McCain’s camp has responded with press releases attacking Bush’s credibility in claiming to be uninvolved with the ad campaign. "For Bush and Pataki to claim ignorance of these ads is far beyond incredible, it miserably fails the political sniff test," said McCain 2000 Campaign Manager Rick Davis. "No sane person would believe that an unaffiliated and unknown new group would land in Manhattan, stroll into Governor Pataki's political guru's office, and ask for a few million dollars worth of TV time to blast John McCain. The thought that Fabrizio would then cut the ads and forget to mention a word to his political bosses is also laughable. I have a bridge to sell to anyone who thinks the Bush campaign was surprised when these ads started to air." John McCain's campaign says something stinks about the mystery ads The environmental group Clean Air Trust today named Republicans for Clean Air as its Clean Air "Villain of the Month," and challenged the group to reveal its source of funding. "It's time to clear the air - time for 'Republicans for Clean Air' to come out of the shadows and debate the facts," said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air Trust. In January, LCV released the 2000 Presidential Profiles that offer an objective assessment of each candidate's environmental record and commitment. The League concluded that Bush has the weakest record of any presidential contender on environmental protection and presents a significant threat to the future of conservation and public health. LCV praised Senator John McCain for his public encouragement of the Republican Party to embrace the notion of conservation and for his efforts to protect the Grand Canyon. However, McCain's 20 percent lifetime environmental voting record left his commitment to environmental protection in question. The 2000 Presidential Profiles are available at: www.lcv.org.

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