From global warming to air and water pollution to our wildlife areas, President Bush’s recent environmental decisions have set a very troubling tone for his administration. Even the President’s own Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman has been surprised by some of the President’s recent decisions.

During the 2000 Election campaign, George W. Bush vowed to support mandatory reductions of the four major air pollutants that contribute to global warming: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, the President has now reversed that position.

Instead, we have a new policy in which the President has backed away from mandatory curbs on carbon dioxide from power plants. Despite a United Nation’s warning that "emissions of carbon dioxide are ... certain to be the dominant influence in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration during the 21st Century," President Bush refuses to regulate carbon dioxide emissions as a pollutant.

In another surprise move, the President recently announced that the United States would pull out of the Kyoto protocol, the 1997 global warming agreement that has been signed by 83 nations. The global warming treaty marked the first time that industrial nations -- which generate most of the emissions that create global warming -- agreed to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and certain other pollutants by 7 % below 1990 levels by 2012.

Despite scientific evidence showing that industrial pollutants threaten the Earth’s climate, President Bush chose to ignore the advice of scientists, environmentalists and other industrial nations, including our European Union trading partners, and withdraw from the agreement.

The President has said that enforcement of strong environmental standards will threaten economic growth, but it’s clear that some major industries disagree and believe you can have strong standards and economic growth. In fact, some of the biggest polluters -- oil and auto companies -- have instituted their own standards to try and reduce harmful emissions.

Unfortunately, there are other indications that this administration is backing away from a strong commitment to improving public health and the environment. The administration recently announced a rollback of new rules that reduce the amount of arsenic allowed in our drinking water. Arsenic is a poison and studies show that it can cause cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. At least 11 million Americans have drinking water with dangerously high levels of arsenic.

The World Health Organization and the European Union classify 10 parts per billion (ppb) as an acceptable standard for arsenic in the drinking water. Unfortunately, the current standard in the United States is 50 ppb, a level that dates back to 1942. President Clinton proposed lowering the standard for arsenic in drinking water, and now the Bush Administration has revoked the new arsenic rule, leaving the higher 50 ppb standard in place.

There are other troubling signs on the horizon. President Bush has said he wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and natural gas drilling. Often called "America’s Serengeti," the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to hundreds of animal species that could be threatened by oil spills. The Bush Administration also has announced a review of rules governing mining on public lands, and has put on hold a Clinton Administration ban on future logging, mining, drilling and road building on 58 million acres of national forests.

The United States has only 4% of the world’s population, yet accounts for 25% of its greenhouse gases. There is no question that as the world's dominant economy we must take a leadership role in working with other nations to curb the pollution. Instead, we are faced with an administration that either does not understand the threat to our future, or is unwilling to stand up to business interests to protect it.