LETTERS: POLITICAL GREENSCAM

To the editor:

Greenscam occurs when corporations or politicians with atrocious records on health and environmental issues use misinformation or deceit to convince the public that they are really sensitive to these issues. Because 42 percent of Americans (ABC News/Washington Post poll September 1996) rate the environment as the most important issue in this election year, it is not surprising that greenscam rises as November approaches. Voters in this area have been subjected to two instances of greenscam recently.

At the state Senate candidate forum Oct. 3, Peter Kinder claimed he had never met a politician who was against clean water and air. But the senator should know we judge candidates not by what they claim or imply, but by what they do. During his four years in Jefferson City, Senator Kinder has won for himself a reputation as a local leader in the nationwide Republican war on human health and the environment.

Now running for re-election, Senator Kinder proudly carries the endorsement of organizations that have dedicated themselves to destroying those regulations that protect the health and environment of Missourians. To find a politician who is opposed to clean water and clean air, Senator Kinder need only look in the mirror.

The second attempt at greenscam came through an unchallenged, anonymous and flat-out deceitful Speak Out item Oct. 4 that tried to portray the Republican Congress as friendly to the national parks and wildlife refuge system. The call denied that Republicans in Congress wished to destroy these valuable and valued publicly owned systems.

The truth, however, is quite consistent with Russell Kullberg's earlier letter. Through the back door of attachments to budget resolutions in 1995, thereby avoiding the need for hearings, the Republican Senate supported oil drilling in our wildlife refuge system and supported the sale of national assets such as public lands and buildings in order to balance the budget and pay for their proposed tax cuts. By vetoing the Budget Reconciliation Bill, President Clinton saved us from the Republican Senate.

Meanwhile, Rep. Hefley, R-Colo., sponsored House Bill 260 in 1995 which directed the secretary of the interior to review the 315 units of the national park system with a view to developing a list of parks to be closed. Fortunately, as environmental reason enjoys a resurgence in a GOP approaching another election and the judgment of Americans, enough Republicans realized that this was an entirely too appalling proposal to be supported.

Contrary to the Speak Out caller's attempted greenscam, voters in the 8th District know that Republicans have targeted the national park system, and our representatives in Washington in both the Senate and the House have supported proposals to destroy the system of national parks and wildlife refuges. We should not send to Washington candidates who argue that they would mindlessly continue the policies of the last two years.

KATHY CONWAY

Cape Girardeau