WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush detailed his environmental achievements and set a goal of increasing the nation's wetlands during his weekly Saturday radio address.
The presentation marked the third consecutive day of environmental promotion by the administration, centered around the annual Earth Day observance.
"Americans are blessed to live amid many incredible wonders of nature," he said. "(But) we no longer take those wonders for granted. We understand our responsibilities to the natural world to conserve and make better what we have been given."
Bush Thursday announced a proposal to restore and also create some 3 million acres of wetlands during the next five years through grants, private and public partnerships and other efforts. The proposal would account for $349 million of fiscal 2005's conservation program funding of more than $ 4 billion.
Bush Saturday also said policies were being readied to remove sulfur from diesel fuel to improved air pollution control, and that the administration had begun regulating mercury emissions from power plants for the first time. Under a new plan he hopes to cut those emissions by about 70 percent..
Bush's policies have been attacked by environmental activists as insufficient and serving the interests of industry.
