Gore hopes ''green'' credentials give him edge over Bush

WASHINGTON - As the administration's point man on the environment, Vice President Al Gore hopes his ''green'' credentials will give him an edge over Gov. George W. Bush, who is having to defend his environmental record in Texas.

But as the country celebrates the 30th anniversary of Earth Day, Gore has yet to energize environmental activists, while Bush has blunted the issue's influence on the campaign by portraying himself as a ''common sense'' environmentalist.

Gore will try to buff his image today with a trip to a Detroit truck yard on behalf of the administration to announce an agreement with private heavy-duty engine and truck companies to develop ''super fuel-efficient'' pickups, buses, and 18-wheelers within the next decade to cut greenhouse gas pollutants beyond current emission standards.

He also plans to participate Saturday in Earth Day celebrations on the National Mall.

Public opinion polls, including a Gallup survey this week, suggests voters will reject an anti-environment candidate although they rank the issue behind the economy, health care and education.

Still, few topics distinguish the two presidential candidates more than this.

- Gore wants ratification of a treaty addressing climate change, arguing that ''greenhouse'' gas emissions can be cut without harming economic growth; Bush would dump the treaty, saying it would devastate businesses.

- Gore vows to block oil drilling in an Alaska Arctic refuge: Bush, a former oilman, supports such drilling to increase domestic oil production.

- Gore has endorsed the Environmental Protection Agency's aggressive pursuit of tougher federal clean air requirements; Bush says improved air quality can be achieved by working with polluters to get voluntary reductions - as he did in Texas. Environmentalists say that stymied air quality improvements in the state.

- Gore favors a major federal role in environmental protection; Bush says states ought to be left alone. He cites state progress in cleaning industrial areas, known as brownfields, while the federal Superfund toxic cleanup law has struggled.

Dan Bartlett, a Bush campaign spokesman, said that while Bush believes in states being given greater flexibility, he is not advocating that they ignore federal environmental laws.

While many Republicans and a range of business groups have sought to portray Gore as an environmental extremist, he has had some rough going with environmentalists.

The issue also has been a sore spot for Bush.

Last summer, for the first time, Houston overtook Los Angeles for having the worst smog. And Texas, with a large concentration of refineries and chemical plants, leads all states in release of toxic chemicals into the environment. Critics say it is 49th among states in its support of state parks and, under Bush, has tangled with the federal government over endangered species protection.

Bush denies he is soft on polluters and tied to industry, arguing he favors a pragmatic approach to environmental protection. Business leaders make it clear they would prefer him as president.

Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth has not decided whether to support Gore; it backed rival Bill Bradley during the primaries. One option is to support consumer activist and Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, says Brent Blackwelder, the group's president.

Of Gore, Blackwelder says: ''While the rhetoric is very good, the understanding is very good, the actions to match the rhetoric haven't always been forthcoming.''

He cited Gore's failure to support a rapid phase-out of methylbromide, a widely used pesticide that also destroys the protective ozone layer in the atmosphere, and Gore's failure to follow up on a pledge to fight against a toxic waste incinerator in Ohio.

Gore also has been accused of not pushing hard enough on climate change. He devoted most of his 1992 book, ''Earth in the Balance,'' to the need to confront global warming, and he broke the logjam that cleared the way for a 1997 agreement in Kyoto calling on industrial nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

''There has been deep concern that this administration hasn't been as aggressive as it should be on this issue,'' says Phil Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust.

The Kyoto agreement faces almost certain defeat in Congress, which must ratify it.

Since the accord, environmentalists argue that the administration has allowed congressional Republicans to dictate the climate change agenda, has failed to push for tougher fuel economy requirements and has accomplished little toward stemming steady increases in greenhouse gas emissions, mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels.

Still, Gore is the environmentalists' favorite, said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.

''He gets credit in having turned Bill Clinton into a real believer on climate change,'' says Pope. ''Bush has said he needs to be judged by Texas, and if you judge him by Texas, the record is appalling.''