[CPEO-MEF] Gov. debate shows differences in military vs. environment

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

[Arizona]
Gov. debate shows differences in military vs. environment
In last night's gubernatorial candidate forum, Salmon questions
Napolitano's priorities on the issue.
The Associated Press
Oct. 22, 2002

MESA - Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon is accusing
Democratic rival Janet Napolitano of putting environmental concerns over
the needs of the military. She says the charge is unfair.

"We're going to be at war soon and our young people are going to be in
harm's way and I can't think of anything more important than national
security," Salmon said last night during a televised debate.

Napolitano, the state attorney general, acknowledged she rejected a Bush
administration request to support federal legislation to provide
military bases with exemptions from the Endangered Species Act and other
environmental laws.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had asked state attorneys general in
May to back the federal legislation, saying environmental laws
"increasingly have been applied to military testing and training
activities in novel ways that threaten readiness without a commensurate
benefit to the environment."

Rumsfeld said the requested exemptions would not affect
noncombat-related functions, such as wastewater treatment plants,
construction projects on military bases, or cleanup obligations at
closed bases.
"What he was really asking for (was) a wholesale exemption from the
environmental laws from our military bases," Napolitano said. "I stand
second to none in support of our military."

It was unfair for Salmon to suggest that a choice needs to be made
between environmental protection and military readiness, Napolitano
said.

"We can have both and we ought to."

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/elect02/10_22_02debate.html

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