Report Shows Bush Ignoring Chemical Security

Misleader: President Bush this week said, "We're going to do what's necessary to protect this country."1 But according to a comprehensive new report, the Bush administration has not only failed to safeguard vulnerable terrorist targets at home, it has actively blocked government initiatives to safeguard the most dangerous materials that could be used in a terrorist attack. According to the nonpartisan Working Group on Community Right-to-Know, the Bush administration has blocked an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiative to impose security measures for extremely hazardous chemicals stored at power plants across the country. As a result, some 3.5 million people living near these non-nuclear power plants continue to face the danger that a terrorist attack could send a cloud of toxic and lethal gas into their neighborhoods. The report also details how opposition from chemical manufacturers has derailed a bill in Congress, the Chemical Security Act, which would have required facilities using the most dangerous chemicals to consider safer technologies and use them where practicable. Since 2000, the chemical industry has donated more than $17 million to President Bush and Republican congressional candidates. These companies have also given more than $6 million in soft money to the Republican National Committee.