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Bush Policy Far More Balanced than Inslee Thinks by Timothy M. Harris Seattle Post-Intelligencer - October 7, 2004

Jay Inslee's Tuesday guest column "Bush no friend of the environment" is absurd. Inslee's attempt to attack the president's record on timber and salmon policy is 180 degrees from the truth. In fact, the administration has pandered to radical environmentalists on these matters to the disdain of the business community.

Inslee neglects to mention that the administration is re-listing every salmon population under the Endangered Species Act in the Pacific Northwest, despite strident opposition from the business community. Bush's decision flies in the face of sound science, which shows that hatchery and wild fish are the same species and should be listed together. Inslee's insistence that hatchery and wild fish are "biologically different" is a red herring (pun intended).

Listing fish based on "biological difference" is not contemplated under the ESA, and would be tantamount to listing a population based on a single trait, such as eye color. It's the Endangered Species Act, not the Endangered Biological Difference Act. Besides, hatchery fish eggs have been harvested from "wild" fish for more than 100 years; there is no serious debate about the fact they are the same species. Yet, Bush has caved to environmentalists on this issue, and apparently Inslee is unaware of Bush's policy choice, which mirrors Clinton's salmon plan in Washington.

Let's give credit where it's due. Bush's environmental policy is far more balanced than Inslee would have you believe.

Related Pages:
Bush No Friend of the Environment by Jay Inslee, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10/5/4