Sierra Club: The Planet--1996
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The Planet
Post-Primary Colors: Red, White, Blue - and Green?

Well, it's election time, and - for environmentalists, at least - time for a reality check.

As most will remember, the Club endorsed Bill Clinton in his successful 1992 challenge to George Bush, the self-proclaimed environmental president. And while President Clinton's record on green issues has been decidedly mixed - strong serve, weak follow-through, impressive late rally - many environmentalists inside and outside the Club can neither forget nor forgive last year's about-face on the logging without laws salvage rider, which resulted in untold damage to millions of acres of public forests in the Pacific Northwest.

On the other hand, the president's Republican challenger, Citizen Bob Dole of Kansas, was until recently the Senate majority leader, and along with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of the two highest-ranking Republicans in the dastardly 104th Congress. This, lest we forget, was a Congress whose agenda brimmed with anti-environmental assaults on everything from clean air and water to wilderness and endangered species - assaults that might have succeeded but for critical Clinton vetoes.

Nevertheless, it's tempting to view the major party candidates in light of our previous expectations - high for Clinton, non-existent for Dole - rather than on the merits. Here, for the record, is a look at their records.


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