FYI - from cbsnews.com  (4/26/01)











AP

President Bush 

















(CBS) President Bush continues to receive some of his lowest marks from the 
public for his handling of environmental issues, according to the latest CBS 
News poll. Just 38 percent of the public approves of the way the president is 
handling the environment, and as many ) 39 percent - disapprove. 

One of the most telling reasons for Mr. Bush's low ratings on the environment 
is that the public views his priorities in this area as the opposite of 
theirs. By more than 2-1, the public places a priority on protecting the 
environment over producing energy. However, when asked which they think Mr. 
Bush feels is more important, Americans overwhelmingly think he is on the 
side of producing energy. While 58 percent of the public supports protecting 
the environment, 70 percent think Mr. Bush supports energy production. 


These divergent priorities are clearly evident on the issue of drilling for 
oil in the Arctic, something Bush strongly supports. A majority of Americans 
oppose opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling 
for oil and natural gas: 54 percent disapprove of this plan, and 37 percent 
approve of it. Public opposition to drilling in the Arctic has remained firm 
for the past few months. 

The public is very clear on its priorities when it comes to the environment: 
75 percent think we need to maintain our present environmental laws in order 
to preserve the environment for future generations, while 19 percent want to 
relax environmental laws in order to achieve economic growth. 

Over the past twenty years, the public has become more supportive of 
maintaining environmental laws; in 1981, 67 percent supported maintaining 
environmental laws.