By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Franco Harris took a page from the Democratic Party's little-used environmental playbook and ran with it yesterday morning at a political rally on the North Shore, criticizing Bush administration policies he says are threatening decades of progress in cleaning up the region's air and water. With five "Kayakers for Kerry" bobbing on the chilly Allegheny River behind him, he told 35 people huddled near the Roberto Clemente Bridge that the administration reduced Pennsylvania's share of Clean Water Act funding by $19.4 million this year, and weakened rules limiting air pollution from coal-burning power plants.
 

"The city has come a long way, but it has a long way to go," Harris said. "It's a shame the administration has rolled back the Clean Air Act provisions when you think about the pollution that blows from west to east and how it's affecting the health of thousands of people here. It's a big concern." He said water quality is also an issue after a rainy summer in which sewage overflows caused health advisories to be posted on the region's rivers for 125 of 138 days during the past boating season.

Harris was joined at the rally by Andre Heinz, son of Teresa Heinz Kerry and an environmental consultant in Stockholm, who said the state's environmental rankings are "distinguished, but not in a good way." Pennsylvania is ranked worst for acid rain and soot, next to the worst in sulfur dioxide emissions and third worst for mercury and power plant emissions. "The solution is to send people to Washington who care about the environment," Heinz said, noting that the League of Women Voters has given Kerry an "A" for his environmental voting record and George Bush an "F."

He said it's not just that Bush has failed to protect the environment, but that he's also sent a message that the economy and the environment are at odds and that science and society are at odds, too. "Kerry understands that the time is right for America to move beyond the traditional fights to a sustainable era," Heinz said.

Andrew McElwaine, president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, said that for the last four years the Bush administration has governed "like the future doesn't matter." Heinz said that environmental issues have gotten scant attention on the national stage, but Kerry has continued to emphasize them at the local and regional level.

"The economy in such disarray, security fears -- those issues consume a lot of air time," he said. "They make it tougher to talk about national and international environmental issues. "It's easier to focus on local environmental issues, like the water and air quality here."

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