Senator Chris Dodd (D)

Public Health

Air Pollution [click here to read question thirteen]

"Yes."

Superfund “Polluter Pays” [click here to read question fourteen]

"Yes."

Chemical Security [click here to read question fifteen]

"Yes."

Clean Water Act [click here to read question sixteen]

"Yes."

Environmental Justice [click here to read question seventeen]

“The environmental justice movement has emerged in recent decades as an important new voice for vulnerable communities threatened by pollution and other environmental hazards, and has begun to transform the public conversation on these issues. Adequate enforcement is especially critical to ensuring a greater measure of environmental justice for all Americans. Thus my priority would be to undertake an environmental justice enforcement initiative to ensure tough, non-discriminatory enforcement of our nation’s anti-pollution laws. For too long vulnerable populations in our country, including minority and low-income communities, have been at greater risk of exposure to environmental pollutants due to waste dumps being sited near them, higher levels of air and water pollution exposure, and the positioning of high-polluting manufacturing facilities in their neighborhoods and communities. Too often waste dumps, manufacturing facility, and energy generation and transmission siting decisions are made with inadequate public notice, and without consulting community leaders. We need to address directly the current imbalance in environmental policymaking, which gives too much consideration to the desires of powerful and well-placed special interests, and too little consideration to the actual ecological impact on these communities, by strengthening NEPA and reversing anti-environmental policies imposed by President Bush and his Congressional allies which limit public comment, review and participation in decision-making.”

Pesticides and Rural Communities [click here to read question eighteen]

“I would undertake a broad, comprehensive administration review of current policies designed to limit undue corporate and special interest influence in governmental decision-making in these areas. It would ensure that final policy decisions are made with one primary goal in mind: protecting the public interest and public health of all Americans on the basis of sound science. Too often in recent years, considerations of cost and complexity, and the desires of special interests, have trumped public health and sound science. Restoring the balance by preventing undue influence on policymaking, and setting a new tone from the top by undertaking this broad review, would be important first steps in this area. Banning outright the use of dangerous pesticides; reducing exposures of farm workers by strengthening local, state and federal enforcement initiatives; promoting more responsible and sustainable farming, food safety, and food processing practices, including encouraging organic farming initiatives, would all be important next steps to take administratively, without waiting for Congress to enact longer-term statutory changes.”