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Zusatztext “It is unfortunate that a book like this needed to be written! but it truly did. I wish it were not so. Still! I am impressed with the way that Devine has cut through layers of political double-speak and bureaucratic misinformation. His well-documented! readable book opens many windows into the Bush administration's environmental policies. Just as important! it throws a revealing beam of light on the political appointees who administer them. I recommend it to all those who believe! as I do! that protecting this beautiful planet we call home should not be a partisan affair.” –Martha Marks! President of REP America (Republicans for Environmental Protection) Informationen zum Autor Robert S. Devine Klappentext Since becoming president, George W. Bush has walked away from the Kyoto Protocol, pushed for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, undermined protections for endangered species and wilderness, and retreated from his campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide. But the president's agenda reaches deeper than these well-known policies. In Bush Versus the Environment , Robert Devine shows how the White House is quietly undermining the entire system of environmental safeguards that has developed over the past thirty years. The administration's tactics include: -Encouraging lawsuits against the federal government that challenge existing environmental laws, and then feebly defending the cases in court. -Ignoring science that doesn't support the president's goals, and pressuring government scientists to produce the results the administration wants. -Using fuzzy math to overestimate the costs and underestimate the benefits of regulations that protect human health and the environment, which can lead to the elimination of much-needed rules. These are just a few of the administration's strategies, which are being pursued beneath the radar of a public that overwhelmingly supports environmental protections. Bush Versus the Environment is a compelling and important look at one of the most important issues facing America today, one that will have consequences that last long after Bush has left office. Chapter 1 The Fox Is Guarding the Henhouse During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush offered clues as to how he would deal with the environment. In his speeches he said nice things about cleaning up pollution and protecting wildlife and supporting parks, even going so far as to make some specific promises (several of which he broke soon after assuming office). But people who looked beneath his words and heeded the old Watergate adage-follow the money-quickly saw where Bush's loyalties lay. The trail of campaign dollars led to big corporations and powerful industries, many of which will lose a lot of money if the federal government does a better job of protecting the environment, and will make a lot of money if the government weakens certain environmental regulations. The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group, took the campaign contribution data compiled by the Federal Election Commission and coded it by industry. Using that coded information, Public Campaign, a progressive public interest group, and Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, figured out how much money the various industries affected by environmental regulation had given to which politicians and political parties. Mining, timber, chemical and other manufacturing, oil and gas, and coal-burning utilities together contributed a staggering $44.1 million to the Bush-Cheney campaign and to the Republican National Committee. Public Citizen and Earthjustice then did something even more interesting. They took the industry-by-industry breakdown of campaign contributions and compared it with the environmental policies undertaken by the Administration during Bush's first 18 months as president. For example, the timber industry ...
