Bill, you don't have to worry about being re-elected anymore. Use all your power to undo damage you've already done, like signing the Salvage Logging Rider. You ran on protecting the environment so live up to your promise. You have the support of the American people behind you. Randy Hartman
Torrance, California
By linking the environment to "family values" the President could make the preservation of nature more relevant to the public. He needs to stress that a healthy environment is the best inheritance that we can give our children, and all our descendants for generations to come. Keith Krueger
Racine, Wisconsin
Wanna be remembered as a "great" president? If so, do great things. A complete overhaul of the tax code to tax polluting products and activities instead of people's incomes would qualify. Policies that would reduce wasteful consumption, stop old-growth logging forever, and end corporate welfare would qualify. Business as usual will get you a pension but not greatness. Robert Wallace
Seattle, Washington
Communicate! The President and Mike McCurry should make frequent mention of the developments in Congress that would undermine federal oversight of the environment. Lack of public scrutiny enables the shaping and passing of damaging legislation. Who knows? The media may even follow Clinton's lead and learn to do their job. Marianne Hoedmaker
Nutley, New Jersey
If nasty taxes I have to pay, in their spending I'd like a say. Use them to make this land greener; to make the air and water cleaner; to stop the logging of old-growth trees; to help endangered critters, please. Make the environment pure and healthy, instead of dirty industries wealthy. They use their money and their might to avoid doing right. But you in power please take note, we "tree-huggers" also vote. Sandra Lee Oliver
Kissimmee, Florida
Make a statement about the connections between beef grown on deforested South American rangelands, the disappearance of Amazonian forests, and global warming, by cutting back on your fast-food diet. Better yet, cut it out altogether. That way, you'll be more credible as an environmentally conscious president. You'll also lose weight, and lower your cholesterol. Wendy King
New Orleans, Louisiana
My advice is this: put restrictions on developers so that they cannot destroy local woods and historical sites to build huge custom houses on tiny plots. Keep America green. Yvonne Moore
Kirkwood, Missouri
The President needs to "de-politicize" the environment. Right now, conservation is more political than ever, and this prevents any positive legislation from being passed. Clinton needs to take steps to ensure that environmental laws are passed for the good of the world, not to please special-interest groups or political committees. Oliver Bernstei
Miami, Florida
The psyche of the nation is geared towards making a clean and noble entry into the new millennium. To do so we must polish our principles and policies by taming corporate power, reforming campaign finance law, and recreating social justice. George Ripley
Boulder, Colorado
Bill, 50 years from now historians and biographers aren't going to give a rat's behind about your "bridge building." They will, however, revere those who tried to save the earth. My advice to you is to inaugurate an Environmental Hall of Fame with as much pomp and PR as you can muster. Charter members would be John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Aldo Leopold. Then work like hell to make yourself deserving. Ralph Ginn
Chillcothe, Illinois
As crazy as it sounds, I think people tend to believe paranoid reactionaries like Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy when they talk because there is no rebuttal. The President needs to tell people what's really going on and why our actions today decide the future health of the planet. After all, a bridge to the 21st century doesn't mean much if the water running beneath it is polluted. Rhyan Conyers
Georgetown, Kentucky
Three words: Listen to Al. The vice president is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and Bill should be too. Hike the gasoline tax, switch to alternative fuels, and plant a few million trees a day to absorb even more carbon dioxide. Steve McCrea
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Regardless of his faults, President Clinton has the capability of understanding very complex matters. I would, therefore, advise two things: 1) Spend a day with Professor E. O. Wilson, the delightful Harvard entomologist, exploring the White House grounds; and 2) Read the Sierra articles, "Hormone Impostors" and "Poison Pens" (January/February 1997) to see how our actions, in the name of profit, may be jeopardizing our children's future. Kent E. Watson
Missoula, Montana
Stop wildlife genocide. This is the deadliest sin ever committed by humankind. My recommendation is to make it difficult for polluting industries to release hormone disrupters into our air, water, and land. Mary Winn
San Francisco, California
