This week, a coalition of 12 states, the District of Columbia and local governments filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency to block the rollback of key provisions of the Clean Air Act. The new EPA regulations, pushed by the Bush Administration, will allow older power plants to continue polluting at high rates even as they undertake massive expansion.

"Once again, the current administration is betraying the public trust," General Wesley Clark said. "There is nothing 'conservative' about this destructive environmental agenda."

The Office of Management and Budget has found that the health and social benefits of enforcing tougher clean air regulations during the past decade were five to seven times greater in economic terms than the costs of complying with the rules.

"We have the technology and the know-how to do better," Clark continued. "We will save thousands of lives and create thousands of jobs by doing the right thing. We need leadership that's willing to make the tough choices, and stand up for Americans in the face of special interests. That's why I applaud the state attorneys general for fighting back."