Clinton Praises U.S. Weapons Removal Efforts
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 5:27PMSecretary of State Hillary Clinton today praised the U.S.’s efforts to clear landmines and destroy unsafe conventional weapons stockpiles left over from past wars.
At a press conference announcing the release of “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” a State Department report documenting the U.S.’ global weapons destruction efforts, Clinton said that leftover munitions and buried landmines “pose a grave danger to the lives and safety of men, women, and children everywhere,” and said that “the United States is proud to be the single largest financial supporter of humanitarian mine action around the world.”
Clinton claimed that in the past decade, the United States has helped decrease the annual number of casualties from landmine explosions from 15-20,000 to 4,000. Clinton called the current figure “still unacceptably high,” but stated that “we are making important progress.”
According to the State Department’s report, the United States has spent $1.9 billion since 1993 on conventional weapons destruction assistance in 81 countries, and $161.5 million in 2010.
While not mentioned in the report, which only covers U.S. activities up to 2010, Clinton also highlighted U.S. weapons destruction assistance to Libya, where the regime of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi was overthrown this year by rebels aided by a NATO air campaign. Clinton claimed that the U.S. was working with Libya to take stock of weapons stockpiles left by the Qaddafi regime and “destroy arms that exceed Libya’s national defense needs.”
Despite its international disarmament work, the United States remains one of a shrinking number of countries that has not signed the Ottawa Convention, a UN treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines.
Asked about the U.S.’ stance on the landmine treaty at the conference, Assistant Secretary for Weapons Removal Andrew Shapiro replied that the U.S. was “reviewing its policy” the treaty, and that a final decision would be based on the treaty’s “impact on our ability to conduct military operations.”
Shapiro confirmed that it was a “goal” to complete the policy review before the end of President Obama’s first term in January 2013.
EPA Issues New Air Pollution Rules
The Obama administration announced Wednesday new rules aimed at reducing air pollution caused by coal power plants.
The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards unveiled today are designed to curb emissions via a series of pollution controls.
According to a news release, “the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year. The standards will also help America’s children grow up healthier – preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 6,300 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year.”
“By cutting emissions that are linked to developmental disorders and respiratory illnesses like asthma, these standards represent a major victory for clean air and public health– and especially for the health of our children,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will protect millions of families and children from harmful and costly air pollution and provide the American people with health benefits that far outweigh the costs of compliance.”
The EPA estimates that “the two rules are estimated to prevent up to 46,000 premature deaths, 540,000 asthma attacks among children, 24,500 emergency room visits and hospital admissions.” The administration also believes that the new standards will net the nation’s economy $90 billion per year.
Critics of the new standards, however, say that they will result in job loss and higher electricty bills for customers.
Power plant lobbyist Scott Segal told MSNBC that “this rule is the most expensive air rule that EPA has ever proposed in terms of direct costs.”
“Much is made of the current debate over extending the payroll tax holiday,” Segal said. “The irony is that a middle class family may end up giving that entire tax benefit back in the form of higher utility bills.”