Workers Screwed as Well

Not only is Bush cramming in anti-environmental regulation changes, but now it seems that he is willing to make it harder for workers at the same time.  The latest rule, according to an article in The New York Times, "would make it harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job".  Geez.  It's not enough for him to let his buddies dump waste in our rivers and streams; now he's going to kill some of those workers who are doing his dirty work for him as well?!?

Some Success in Utah

One of Bush's parting moves was to open hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Utah to mining and drilling, most of it very close to the canyonlands and the Green River - some of the most beautiful, remote, wild places on earth (I know, I've been there).  Well, it certainly pissed of a lot of people, because some of the leases have been taken back.  

According to The Daily Kos, drilling leases near Dinosaur National Monument, Delicate Arch, and Canyonlands National Park have been repealed.  The National Park Service, members of Congress, and a "top official" from Obama's team have all forced the Bureau of Land Management to back down on the leases being offered.  It's a good job so far, but they're really not anywhere near done yet - only 22 leases have been repealed, out of 90 created.  There's still about 130,000 acres open to drilling and mining, and although the BLM's been good so far, they've certainly got some Bushies in there who will not be eager to take back any more leases.  But it's a start, and it shows that we can do something to fight Dubya.

Leaving People Behind

President Bush is not satisfied with simply dismantling as many environmental protection as he can.  No, he has to ensure that soon-to-be-President Obama has to fight to protect the environment as well.  Using a practice called "burrowing", Bush is placing his anti-environmental buddies in career service posts, where Obama won't be able to remove them.  Among these transfers are Robert Comer and Matthew McKeown.  Comer is well known for his opposition to the Roadless Rule (a rule in which areas of national land that don't have pre-existing roads are barred from any development) and his sketchy grazing agreements.  McKeown is a favorite of the mining industry - and we all know about those guys (see previous post on Coal River Mountain, West Virginia).  These Bushies, among others, will be placed in senior civil service posts in the Department of the Interior, where they will be able to make trouble for Obama and block his policies.  

Is it just me, or is anyone else really getting annoyed by how impossible it seems that we'll ever be able to get away from Dubya?  He's already irreparably damaged the environment, and now he's going to insure that Obama will have to fight a battle to improve it!  It's like he knows we don't like him, and he's said, "screw it, and screw them - anything to continue being rich!"

Source: Environmental Law Prof. Blog - Bush Administration Land Mines the Interior Department, EPA and Other Environmental Agencies

Bush Deregulates and Helps His Buddies

To start off the blog, here are two links to earlier posts from another blog of mine.

The first one is about Bush's deregulations and loosening of several minor but crucial land-use management rules.

The second is about a mountain community in West Virginia that is under threat of destruction because the mountain has coal deposits.  The West Virginia story is quite scary, but yet we can do something about it - there is an online petition, and a number to call to protest the mining permit being considered. 

More Trees, Less Bush

There are 54 days left until January 20, 2009, when Bush is out and Obama is in.  In those 54 days, Dubya can do unimaginable amounts of damage to the environment - not that these last 8 years have been particularly nice, either.  But there's still so much for him to do; so many rules to loosen, so much land to open to drilling and logging and mining.

In this blog, I hope to spread news about Dubya's latest moves against the environment.  The more people that know about it, the more opposition that can be marshaled, and, who knows - maybe the Environmental Protection Agency will grow a pair and block some of Bush's more obviously damaging moves.

I have provided an extensive list of blogs, mostly related to the environment.  Some of them have news stories, like TreeHugger and Triple Pundit.  Others are about the latest and best environmentally-friendly products, like EcoFriend and Got2BeGreen.  I also provided links to liberal-politics blogs like The Daily Kos and The Huffington Post because they often carry environmental stories, on top of anything else political.  I highly recommend you all check out some of those blogs - they have some really interesting stories!

I would welcome anybody who wants to join the blog.  I am not exclusive, and I cannot read every bit of news, so membership is open to anyone.  Likewise, I would greatly appreciate any comments you might care to leave (and you don't need to be a member to leave a comment).  The purpose of this blog is to spread environmental awareness and to highlight Bush's environmental damages, so please - read on, leave comments, and if you would care to, join in with your stories!