What will the next president do with the Earth? Here’s what each candidate promises.
ISSUE
Endangered Species
GORE
Strengthen enforcement of the 1973 Endangered Species Act and increase funding for habitat purchase and protection.
BUSH
Give states a say in which species get on the endangered list. Compensate landowners for any loss of income from habitat protection.
ISSUE
Clean Air
GORE
Force fuel economy on new cars, phase out old power plants that fail emission standards, restore air quality in national parks to pre-industrial levels.
BUSH
Require a modest reduction of sulfur in gasoline.
ISSUE
Clean Water
GORE
Give industry polluters financial incentives to mend their ways, enforce the 1972 Clean Water Act. Will veto any bills that lower water quality.
BUSH
Give polluters financial incentives to mend their ways; lighten up on Clean Water Act enforcement.
ISSUE
Global Warming
GORE
Lobby the Senate to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to lower emissions that cause global warming.
BUSH
Deep-six Kyoto. Recognizes that the globe is heating up, but says “both the causes and the impact of this slight warming are uncertain.”
ISSUE
Toxic Waste
GORE
Cut back on mercury contamination of the Great Lakes by setting performance standards for midwestern power plants.
BUSH
Center cleanup policy on brownfieldsabandoned industrial sites.
ISSUE
Sprawl
GORE
Provide $1 billion in tax incentives to landowners and developers who preserve land threatened by sprawl.
BUSH
Lower, and eventually eliminate, the estate tax, easing pressure on cash-poor farm families to sell land.
ISSUE
Public Lands
GORE
Double spending for Land and Water Conservation Fund to $900 million to buy federal land. Ban road-building on all federal roadless areas.
BUSH
Boost Land and Water Conservation Fund to $900 million and use half for local and state land acquisition.
ISSUE
Oil Stands
GORE
Continue moratorium on new oil drilling off coasts of Florida and California; keep Arctic National Wildlife Refuge closed to drillers.
BUSH
Continue the new-drilling moratorium off Florida and California coasts; open Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploratory drilling.