Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company The Boston
Globe
November 8, 2001, Thursday ,THIRD
EDITION
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A8
LENGTH: 708 words
HEADLINE: KERRY SEES 'MISPLACED PATRIOTISM' IN BUSH OIL PLAN
BYLINE: By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff
BODY: NEW YORK - Senator John F. Kerry
last night accused the Bush administration of "misplaced patriotism," saying it
is taking advantage of the emotional response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
to push for oil drilling in Alaska and for passage of an energy plan containing
oil and gas subsidies.
The Massachusetts Democrat and
potential 2004 presidential contender cast fighting for the environment as an
expression of true love of country.
"I believe that the better definition of patriotism
for us here tonight, in this environmental challenge that we face, is clearly to
say no, to stand at the breach, and to say that we're not going to be led down
the path that falsely provides us with the choice of either growing the economy
or protecting the environment when all of us know that we can do both
simultaneously," said Kerry in the keynote address at the 12th annual New York
dinner meeting of the League of Conservation Voters.
A
call to the White House seeking comment on his remarks was not returned.
While Kerry did not mention President Bush by name, his
target was clear as he blasted administration energy policies and called for a
reduction in dependence on foreign oil, a cut in greenhouse gas emissions, and
for subjecting sport-utility vehicles to the same fuel efficiency
standards imposed on standard automobiles.
He set a goal of having 20 percent of the nation's energy supply by
2020 come exclusively from alternative and renewable sources of energy.
"Twenty-twenty, that's a goal," Kerry said.
The speech, before a largely Democratic audience of
environmentalists and New York political donors, was part of Kerry's reentry
into the national political arena. Like other politicians, he canceled
fund-raisers and reelection appearances to allow the country to come to grips
with the hijackings.
Among those in the audience of 300
were former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld, a Republican and avid
outdoorsman; Clinton administration officials Andrew Cuomo, John Podesta, and
Bill Richardson; and actor Robert Redford, who is active in the environmental
movement and hailed Kerry's involvement in introducing the senator.
In the 2000 election, Vice President Al Gore carried the
party's environmental banner as he challenged George W. Bush for the presidency.
While Gore has begun his reemergence into the political arena with visits to
Iowa and New Hampshire, Kerry has sought to assert his own credentials.
On the Senate floor, he has declared he will lead a
filibuster if the administration forges ahead with efforts to drill for oil in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
The
speech at New York's Waldorf-Astoria & Towers echoed similar league
addresses by Gore when he was a senator and Bill Bradley and Bill Clinton when
they were presidential candidates.
"Let me say to you
tonight, in the clearest terms I can, with a sense of conviction that comes from
confidence because of the road we have traveled and our sense of ourselves, that
we can't honor properly those who died on Sept. 11, and we can't stay true to
our own values, unless we are prepared to have political leaders who in their
turn are prepared to offer us real choices about the future of this country, and
not allow the vibrancy of our democracy to be torn apart by a misplaced
patriotism," Kerry said.
He labeled the proposal to
drill in the Alaska refuge, which the Bush administration argues would help
diminish the nation's dependence on foreign oil imports, as "misplaced
patriotism," adding: "That's not a choice; that's a charade, and they know
it."
He added: "It's also a false definition of
patriotism to suggest that when 458,000 people have been thrown out of work in
one month - the largest single one-month increase in 21 years in this country -
and when we're remembering supposedly properly the acts of those average,
everyday Americans who went in that building and ran up 40-some flights with
hoses over their backs to rescue people, and police officers who went in to
maintain order in our country, there is somehow something grotesquely
inappropriate in $20-plus billion of subsidies to oil and gas that are
giveaways."
Glen Johnson can be reached by e-mail at
johnson@globe.com.
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