TAMPA, April 21: Dismissing "the same, tired old arguments" that environmentalism and commerce cannot coexist, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said on Tuesday he would embark on a new era of pollution protections while simultaneously promoting business and industry.

Standing beside a haven for manatees and herons along Tampa Bay, Mr Kerry told an audience of about 150 that President Bush has reversed three decades of environmental gains while relying on eco-friendly slogans that "would make George Orwell rise up in fear".

The event was the first of several over three days in the South that will stress Mr Kerry's commitment to environmentalism - a theme picked to coincide with Thursday's Earth Day commemorations.

The Massachusetts senator said that as president, he would restore many Clinton administration initiatives that Mr Bush reversed, including ones that would lead to greater preservation of open space.

Mr Kerry said he also would embark on new programmes in four areas: improving the quality and health testing of public waters; reducing mercury and other harmful emissions from power plants; decreasing pollution runoff from farms, factories and residential neighbourhoods and increasing spending to form coastal preserves. -Dawn/The LAT-WP News Service (c) The Los Angeles Times.