[Vision2020] At Last, An Environmental Step (Molly Ivins)

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (June 25, 2006) Spokesman Review -

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At last, an environmental step 
Molly Ivins 
June 25, 2006

Yea, Bush! Way to go! I realize this is last week's news, but I'm a great
believer in giving credit where credit is due. By designating the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national monument, Bush has put one more
level of federal protection around a vast spread of islands and
irreplaceable marine life. 

As he rather touchingly insisted, this is a big deal - 140,000 square miles
of water that contains more than 7,000 rare species. Word is the president
decided to declare the area a marine sanctuary after watching a documentary
by Jean-Michel Cousteau. The thought that it might be possible to move
George W. Bush to action by something as simple as watching a movie came as
a new thought to many who are dying to try it on other issues. 

But the environment is an area in which a simple plea often moves Bush. For
example, Ol' Ernie Angelo, who used to be mayor of Midland and used to
represent Texas on the Republican National Committee, sent a note to Karl
Rove in 2002 complaining about an Environmental Protection Agency rule
designed to keep groundwater around oil drilling sites clean. 

Well, you can imagine Angelo, an oilman, was not happy about this sucker. In
fact, he informed Rove, the rule was causing many in the oil industry "to
openly express doubt as to the merit of electing Republicans when we wind up
with this type of stupidity." 

Rove forwarded the note to the White House environmental advisers, demanding
a "response ASAP." So the rule finally took effect this month after intense
industry pressure, court battles and behind-the-scenes lobbying. And guess
what? It has no teeth in it. 

Yep, Ernie and oil industry got what they wanted: the end of the Clinton-era
proposal to require special EPA permits for construction sites smaller than
5 acres as a way to keep groundwater clean. Unless the Bush administration
took this kind of special care, Exxon might suffer a drop in profits. 

Next, we find the EPA has decided not to release information on 140
Superfund sites. You might, if you hadn't been paying attention, assume
information collected by the government and paid for by the citizens would
be, uh, public.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "The EPA said that it had blocked only
information related to law enforcement and that the public had access to all
relevant health-risk data for the sites." 

That's the kind of sentence reporters write with a straight face. Actually,
what the EPA is keeping secret is how much money and time it will take to
clean up the Superfund sites. Why? "Republicans said Democrats want to
manufacture a political issue and noted that Senate tradition had long
prevented the release of sensitive information," said the Times. What
political issue? The reinstatement of a "controversial tax" - i.e., the
Superfund tax on chemical, oil and other polluting companies. 

In case you haven't been following this, the Superfund is broke and has been
largely inactive for four years. The fund was allowed to run dry when
Congress failed to renew the tax on polluters. You may not believe this, but
the oil and chemical companies complained mightily about being asked to pay
for the cleanup of messes they had created. What a concept. 

Other environmental controversies continue to simmer all the time - out of
sight, out of mind. Just one more regulation chopped here, just one more law
changed there, just a little information hidden. 

But do give Bush credit for declaring the already protected Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands a national monument. That's a good thing. Is there an
election any time soon?

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Uh, how about a 1-strike law. Death doesn't seem too extreme for a Level-3
sex offender."

- Dale "Comb-Over" Courtney (August 3, 2005)