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Kerry: Accurate on Environment?
Aired April 22, 2004 - 14:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We have been listening to John Kerry on an Earth Day speech. And before a crowd of enthusiastic supporters in Houston.
Also listening with us outside away from that crowd, someone who might have a few bones to pick with what Mr. Kerry has to say. Myron Ebell. He is with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He joins us from Washington. Thanks for being with us.
MYRON EBELL, COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Let's go through just what Senator Kerry had to say. The whole notion of the Clean Air Act being loosened so much that companies are allowed to pollute in ways they weren't before. Is that an accurate take?
EBELL: No. Senator Kerry exaggerates greatly about the Clean Air Act. In fact, as all the indexes show, Americans' air is getting better in virtually every part of the country.
There are still some places that have poor air and air quality. And those are almost entirely due to very difficult local conditions like the L.A. basin having mountains just east of the basin trapping dirty air.
So, no, he exaggerates there. And I think he does not give credit to the Bush administration for its continued enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
WOODRUFF: But haven't certain restrictions been loosened under the Bush watch?
EBELL: Well, in fact, the Clinton administration recognized that something had to be done to fix the New Source Review problem. And in fact, the Bush administration that carried through some fairly minimal reforms about a very small part of the Clean Air Act. New Source Review is not the key to the Clean Air Act. It is not the key to improving air quality throughout the country.
O'BRIEN: Why not?
EBELL: Because it affects a very small, tiny little piece of the act that nobody until now has said was the central part of the Clean Air Act.
O'BRIEN: What about, though, when you start talking about automobile emissions and that sort of thing? Do you feel like the Bush administration has been aggressive enough dealing with that issue?
EBELL: Well, in some ways I personally think that we've gone a little bit too far in clean air with automobiles. I mean...
(CROSSTALK)
EBELL: We have now automobiles that put out extremely clean exhaust. But we continually go after tiny little incremental improvements that cost huge amounts of money so that people are forced to keep their older cars which are dirtier because they can't afford newer cars because the new requirements have made those cars so much more expensive.
So we're getting very little bang for our buck now in continued air exhaust improvements from automobiles.
O'BRIEN: How do you work out from under that conundrum because clearly what you're suggesting is that you stop improving vehicles because it is expensive to do so.
EBELL: In California by far the most effective way of improving the air quality would be a buy back program for older automobiles. It could be done for a fraction of the price and it would make a much bigger improvement this the air quality.
O'BRIEN: Just a final thought here about the Clean Water Act. Do you feel that Mr. Kerry was once again exaggerating as well?
EBELL: Actually, there he has his facts wrong. The Supreme Court decided that waters that are not of the United States but are purely state waters. That is wetlands that are not connected to rivers that flow into other states, that those wetlands should be regulated by the states and not by the federal government. That is a Supreme Court decision.
And as far as I can understand, Senator Kerry, he is proposing to defy a Supreme Court decision and not enforce the law of the land.
O'BRIEN: I have to leave it there. Myron Ebell is with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, thanks very much.
PHILLIPS: There's no better sight for the men and women who serve. Homecoming for the troops and families at Fort Hood. We'll talk with one soldier enjoying his reunion today. And introduce you to the troops who keep the front lines stocked. Behind the scenes with the box kickers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Back from Iraq. Thousands of troops who spent a year in Iraq are finally home with family and friends. A huge homecoming celebration under way in Fort Hood, Texas.
So how are those families spending their first day today? Lieutenant Colonel Mark Young is a battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division, just returned from Iraq, after a year. He joins us with his wife Alicia. Congratulations on a reunion to both of you.
LT. COL. MARK YOUNG , 4TH I.D.: Thank you.
ALICIA YOUNG, SOLDIER'S WIFE: Thank you.
M. YOUNG: It is great to be home.
O'BRIEN: Alicia, I've got to ask you first. I assume this is the answer to a few prayers over the course of a year. This has to be one of the high points. What was the lowest point during the course of this year for you?
A. YOUNG: Well, the hardest times was when we lost some soldiers and we had to go to their memorial service and their funerals and talk to their families and the loss that they suffered. That would be probably the hardest time.
But they were all just amazing families and support around here was just tremendous. And I'm just very impressed with how proud they were that their sons had served in Iraq and that they were there because they wanted to serve their country.
O'BRIEN: Colonel Young, what was the hardest part about the tenure over there for you?
M. YOUNG: Well, I would have to agree with me wife. The loss of any soldier was a tremendous thing.
So not only the separation from family and the creature comforts and things that we come to expect, but any time that you lose a soldier, it becomes closer than family over there. I mean, you're combat. You rely on each other. We become a close knit team. So when you lose a member of the team, it hurts.
But I'm so proud of my soldiers who were able to pick up day after day, go out and face danger, put themselves in harm's way. Even after a tough day of losing someone, that we went out and did our mission.
So that was probably the lowest part, the toughest part.
O'BRIEN: Colonel, what do you think is collectively 4th Infantry Division's biggest accomplishment over the past year there?
M. YOUNG: Well, the most notable probably was the capture of Saddam Hussein. The 4th Task Force was able to cap the Ace of Spades and pull him out of the hole he was in in Iraq.
But more notably was to day-to-day mission that the soldiers accomplished, went out in a disciplined manner, in a humane manner. We took the fight to the enemy wherever we had to. We were fighting the terrorists.
But at the same time we were building schools and hospitals and placing governments back in control. So just a day-to-day grind of the mission and the work that was being accomplished by the soldier every day was probably the most notable thing.
O'BRIEN: Alicia, these days when a soldier, any member of the military, goes off to a deployment, her or she can stay connected through the Internet. Were you able to stay in fairly close contact and how much does that help?
A. YOUNG: Oh, it was a tremendous difference the minute we had Internet access. We could stay in contact with each other and communicate freely and we keep up with what's going on with each other and family and the unit. And it was a huge difference with the Internet and they were just like right there.
And it was unbelievable, the difference. When you went from having no contact at all and the mail takes a long time to get there. When that e-mail link was there, it was just -- it was a lot, lot better and we could keep up with each other and it helps to communicate while they're away.
O'BRIEN: Colonel, do you leave in stint in Iraq with the sense of a lot of unfinished business there?
M. YOUNG: Well, there is still work to be done in Iraq. Obviously there are units there that are carrying on the work.
But no, we accomplished the mission that we were given. We, as you might remember, were supposed to go through Turkey and attack through northern Iraq through Baghdad, but politically that didn't work out.
So they changed our focus and we deployed into Kuwait and north from Kuwait into Iraq. We went into an extremely chaotic situation. It was war and total chaos, because all the structure that was there when Saddam was in place totally broke down.
So we went into an absolute leadership and structural backing. And we were able to put the basic things in place. We were able to stab operating bases that other soldiers deployed into. We were able to stand up local governments. We were able to put a rudimentary structure in place.
So I felt we completed our mission. Of course, we're standing and our job is to re-integrate and reequip and prepare to do the next mission that our country asks us to. But no, we accomplished the mission that we were given.
O'BRIEN: Speaking of reintegration, Alicia, what are your plans as far as favorite meals? And how long is the honey-do list at this point?
A. YOUNG: Well, it's pretty long, but he's been really good about helping out since he's been home. And it has just been a wonderful reunion and he's open and sharing with one another. We're just excited that he's home and that's good enough for us just to have him here. O'BRIEN: He's got a few deployments to the Home Depot, undoubtedly.
Alicia and Mark Young, congratulations on your reunion. Enjoy your time together. Savor it, we wish you and everyone in the unit well.
A. YOUNG: Thank you.
M. YOUNG: Thank you. God bless our troops.
PHILLIPS: You know about those honey-do lists, don't you?
O'BRIEN: Oh, yeah. I can only imagine the one-year old honey do list. Honey-do book.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 22, 2004 - 14:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We have been listening to John Kerry on an Earth Day speech. And before a crowd of enthusiastic supporters in Houston.
Also listening with us outside away from that crowd, someone who might have a few bones to pick with what Mr. Kerry has to say. Myron Ebell. He is with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He joins us from Washington. Thanks for being with us.
MYRON EBELL, COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Let's go through just what Senator Kerry had to say. The whole notion of the Clean Air Act being loosened so much that companies are allowed to pollute in ways they weren't before. Is that an accurate take?
EBELL: No. Senator Kerry exaggerates greatly about the Clean Air Act. In fact, as all the indexes show, Americans' air is getting better in virtually every part of the country.
There are still some places that have poor air and air quality. And those are almost entirely due to very difficult local conditions like the L.A. basin having mountains just east of the basin trapping dirty air.
So, no, he exaggerates there. And I think he does not give credit to the Bush administration for its continued enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
WOODRUFF: But haven't certain restrictions been loosened under the Bush watch?
EBELL: Well, in fact, the Clinton administration recognized that something had to be done to fix the New Source Review problem. And in fact, the Bush administration that carried through some fairly minimal reforms about a very small part of the Clean Air Act. New Source Review is not the key to the Clean Air Act. It is not the key to improving air quality throughout the country.
O'BRIEN: Why not?
EBELL: Because it affects a very small, tiny little piece of the act that nobody until now has said was the central part of the Clean Air Act.
O'BRIEN: What about, though, when you start talking about automobile emissions and that sort of thing? Do you feel like the Bush administration has been aggressive enough dealing with that issue?
EBELL: Well, in some ways I personally think that we've gone a little bit too far in clean air with automobiles. I mean...
(CROSSTALK)
EBELL: We have now automobiles that put out extremely clean exhaust. But we continually go after tiny little incremental improvements that cost huge amounts of money so that people are forced to keep their older cars which are dirtier because they can't afford newer cars because the new requirements have made those cars so much more expensive.
So we're getting very little bang for our buck now in continued air exhaust improvements from automobiles.
O'BRIEN: How do you work out from under that conundrum because clearly what you're suggesting is that you stop improving vehicles because it is expensive to do so.
EBELL: In California by far the most effective way of improving the air quality would be a buy back program for older automobiles. It could be done for a fraction of the price and it would make a much bigger improvement this the air quality.
O'BRIEN: Just a final thought here about the Clean Water Act. Do you feel that Mr. Kerry was once again exaggerating as well?
EBELL: Actually, there he has his facts wrong. The Supreme Court decided that waters that are not of the United States but are purely state waters. That is wetlands that are not connected to rivers that flow into other states, that those wetlands should be regulated by the states and not by the federal government. That is a Supreme Court decision.
And as far as I can understand, Senator Kerry, he is proposing to defy a Supreme Court decision and not enforce the law of the land.
O'BRIEN: I have to leave it there. Myron Ebell is with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, thanks very much.
PHILLIPS: There's no better sight for the men and women who serve. Homecoming for the troops and families at Fort Hood. We'll talk with one soldier enjoying his reunion today. And introduce you to the troops who keep the front lines stocked. Behind the scenes with the box kickers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Back from Iraq. Thousands of troops who spent a year in Iraq are finally home with family and friends. A huge homecoming celebration under way in Fort Hood, Texas.
So how are those families spending their first day today? Lieutenant Colonel Mark Young is a battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division, just returned from Iraq, after a year. He joins us with his wife Alicia. Congratulations on a reunion to both of you.
LT. COL. MARK YOUNG , 4TH I.D.: Thank you.
ALICIA YOUNG, SOLDIER'S WIFE: Thank you.
M. YOUNG: It is great to be home.
O'BRIEN: Alicia, I've got to ask you first. I assume this is the answer to a few prayers over the course of a year. This has to be one of the high points. What was the lowest point during the course of this year for you?
A. YOUNG: Well, the hardest times was when we lost some soldiers and we had to go to their memorial service and their funerals and talk to their families and the loss that they suffered. That would be probably the hardest time.
But they were all just amazing families and support around here was just tremendous. And I'm just very impressed with how proud they were that their sons had served in Iraq and that they were there because they wanted to serve their country.
O'BRIEN: Colonel Young, what was the hardest part about the tenure over there for you?
M. YOUNG: Well, I would have to agree with me wife. The loss of any soldier was a tremendous thing.
So not only the separation from family and the creature comforts and things that we come to expect, but any time that you lose a soldier, it becomes closer than family over there. I mean, you're combat. You rely on each other. We become a close knit team. So when you lose a member of the team, it hurts.
But I'm so proud of my soldiers who were able to pick up day after day, go out and face danger, put themselves in harm's way. Even after a tough day of losing someone, that we went out and did our mission.
So that was probably the lowest part, the toughest part.
O'BRIEN: Colonel, what do you think is collectively 4th Infantry Division's biggest accomplishment over the past year there?
M. YOUNG: Well, the most notable probably was the capture of Saddam Hussein. The 4th Task Force was able to cap the Ace of Spades and pull him out of the hole he was in in Iraq.
But more notably was to day-to-day mission that the soldiers accomplished, went out in a disciplined manner, in a humane manner. We took the fight to the enemy wherever we had to. We were fighting the terrorists.
But at the same time we were building schools and hospitals and placing governments back in control. So just a day-to-day grind of the mission and the work that was being accomplished by the soldier every day was probably the most notable thing.
O'BRIEN: Alicia, these days when a soldier, any member of the military, goes off to a deployment, her or she can stay connected through the Internet. Were you able to stay in fairly close contact and how much does that help?
A. YOUNG: Oh, it was a tremendous difference the minute we had Internet access. We could stay in contact with each other and communicate freely and we keep up with what's going on with each other and family and the unit. And it was a huge difference with the Internet and they were just like right there.
And it was unbelievable, the difference. When you went from having no contact at all and the mail takes a long time to get there. When that e-mail link was there, it was just -- it was a lot, lot better and we could keep up with each other and it helps to communicate while they're away.
O'BRIEN: Colonel, do you leave in stint in Iraq with the sense of a lot of unfinished business there?
M. YOUNG: Well, there is still work to be done in Iraq. Obviously there are units there that are carrying on the work.
But no, we accomplished the mission that we were given. We, as you might remember, were supposed to go through Turkey and attack through northern Iraq through Baghdad, but politically that didn't work out.
So they changed our focus and we deployed into Kuwait and north from Kuwait into Iraq. We went into an extremely chaotic situation. It was war and total chaos, because all the structure that was there when Saddam was in place totally broke down.
So we went into an absolute leadership and structural backing. And we were able to put the basic things in place. We were able to stab operating bases that other soldiers deployed into. We were able to stand up local governments. We were able to put a rudimentary structure in place.
So I felt we completed our mission. Of course, we're standing and our job is to re-integrate and reequip and prepare to do the next mission that our country asks us to. But no, we accomplished the mission that we were given.
O'BRIEN: Speaking of reintegration, Alicia, what are your plans as far as favorite meals? And how long is the honey-do list at this point?
A. YOUNG: Well, it's pretty long, but he's been really good about helping out since he's been home. And it has just been a wonderful reunion and he's open and sharing with one another. We're just excited that he's home and that's good enough for us just to have him here. O'BRIEN: He's got a few deployments to the Home Depot, undoubtedly.
Alicia and Mark Young, congratulations on your reunion. Enjoy your time together. Savor it, we wish you and everyone in the unit well.
A. YOUNG: Thank you.
M. YOUNG: Thank you. God bless our troops.
PHILLIPS: You know about those honey-do lists, don't you?
O'BRIEN: Oh, yeah. I can only imagine the one-year old honey do list. Honey-do book.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
