Earth Equity News

Bush Declared 422 Major Disasters. By Austin Bogues, NYTimes, August 9, 2008. "During his seven and a half years in office, President Bush has declared 422 major disasters -- severe storms, tornadoes, wildfires and floods -- or more than one a week. That is 11 percent more than President Bill Clinton's disaster declarations and 130 percent more than President Ronald Reagan during their full two terms in office. All those natural disasters translate into more federal government spending. Under Mr. Bush, the government has committed to spend $87 billion in disaster relief money to help states and localities clean up after floods, fires and storms, compared with Mr. Clinton's nearly $29 billion. Even after adjusting for inflation, the Bush administration has spent 2.5 times more than the Clinton administration on disaster relief."