Riding Roughshod Over Science

Surprise, surprise!  Bush & Co. have been interfering with the scientists at the E.P.A in regards to rules protecting endangered species!  Yeah, I could have seen this coming a mile away.

In an article in The New York Times today, a report was issued in which the inspector general of the Interior Dept. found at least 15 instances in which Interior agency officials interfered with the scientific work in regards to developing policies protecting endangered species.  Julie A. MacDonald, former deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks and overseer of endangered species issues, was named as one of the worst in this gang of meddlers.  She had resigned in May of 2007, after an earlier report found she had "run roughshod over agency scientists and violated federal rules by giving internal documents to industry lobbyists".  

Well, I for one, have been expecting this for, oh, eight years, maybe?  The whole history of Bush & Co. is of bending over backwards for special interests, especially oil and energy and mining interests.  Unfortunately, those guys are the ones that are nearly always the worst environmentally, which explains the meddling of MacDonald and crew.  Whenever they interfered with the scientific work on endangered species policy, you can bet that it was because the new policy would have interfered with oil, energy, or mining interests' operations.

Oh, I CANNOT WAIT for Obama to assume the Presidency.  It will be oh so lovely to have some real, responsible people in the government - people who will at least consider the rest of us and the environment when they're making their decisions.  Maybe I'm putting too much faith in Obama - after all, he is only human, and the special interests have a stranglehold on Washington.  But after 8 years of Dubya, Obama is my last hope - my last hope, our last hope, and the environment's last hope.

Bush Blames Russia?

Last Thursday, after talks ended at the Poznan Global Climate Conference, the U.S. negotiating team was asked what they would have done differently during the past 8 years.  James Connaughton, Bush's chief environmental advisor, responded that he "whish[ed] first that Russia had made up its mind sooner as to whether it was going to join Kyoto or not.  I think we lost a couple of years of work while that decision was being made."

Whoa, hold on a second - WTF?!?!??  Does this guy have his head stuck up his a$$ or something?  He wishes that Russia had made up its mind about Kyoto sooner, because they held up work on it?   Ummmm.... I believe that the U.S. still hasn't ratified the treaty... so, what's Russia got to do with it?  Until the U.S. ratifies, it doesn't affect us, so we couldn't do any work on it whether Russia signed or not!

Besides, I thought Bush & Co. didn't really believe in global warming.   I mean, they haven't done anything to curb greenhouse gasses or improve gas mileage in our cars.  Just look at the difference in goals between the U.S., Europe, and Canada.

• The U.S. has no target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions  by 2020,  and wants more tax cuts for the energy companies.
  
• Europe wants to cut emissions to 20% of 1990 levels and enforce a mandatory cap-and-trade system
• Canada wants to cut emissions to 1990 levels and let the energy companies create their own efficiency standards

The U.S. is clearly still in denial.  This will all change drastically once Obama assumes the Presidency, but until then, we're the outcasts and deniers.  Which is why it pisses me off so much that Connaughton can blame the Russians for holding up a treaty that we're not even paying any attention to.

Sources:

Gristmill: Guess which country the Bush team blames for lack of a climate deal?

The Wonk Room: Earth To Bush: We Can't Wait 15 More Years

Screwing the Native Americans Again

In the desert of Northern Arizona, there is a Native American Reservation for the Hopis and Navajo.  Unfortunately for them, there is a huge coal deposit nearby, named Black Mesa.  Just as the Native Americans were screwed when the Europeans came over and decided to take over North America, the coal company Peabody Coal and the government has decided that the coal is much more important that the welfare of the Hopis and Navajo.

The Black Mesa coal mine issue is actually an old issue.  The mine was first opened about a century ago, but had been closed a few decades later.  Now, Bush & Co. want to open it again, with no regards to the welfare of the Hopi and Navajo.  They were screwed then, and they'll be screwed again.

Some of the problems with the mine:

1. The Environmental Impact Report, which is supposed to look at all of the possible environmental issues that may occur, has completely ignored the problem of water availability.  The mining of the coal requires the use of billions of gallons of water, which the desert cannot possibly replenish.  The mining of the coal, when it first started, had drained all of the natural springs and aquifers for dozens of miles around, and lowered the groundwater level to a dangerously low level.  Because of this, the Hopis and Navajo had to travel 20-30 miles through the desert to access water... which just might have been contaminated.  And now they want to start mining again?
2.  There is no mention of the problems of air pollution for the local residents, and the mine workers are only to be given basic precautions... despite all of the know problems resulting from coal dust pollution, such as black lung disease and asthma.
3. The mining agreement does not take into account the CO2 emissions that are going to occur if the mine opens.

However, there is a bright spot on the horizon.  U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, who is tapped to take over the Dept. of the Interior under Obama's administration, is calling for a suspension of the proposed mining agreement until the environmental review can be re-examined.  If he is heeded, and the mining agreement is not given a green light, I think we can expect it to be scrapped.  Which is the environmentally and politically correct thing to do, considering the reasons given above. 

Source: Gristmill, Why Raul Grijalva Matters at Interior

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?!?

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!