New York Times gerir upp við George dobbeljú

New York Times um arfleifð Bush forseta í umhverfismálum    

Bandaríkjamenn flykkjast nú á kjörstaði til að velja næsta forseta Bandarikjanna. Frá og með deginum í dag á Bush forseti 77 daga eftir í Hvíta húsinu. Í forustugrein New York Times - So Little Time - So Much Damage - segir að Bush hyggist nýta tímann vel til vondra verka.

Menn Bush hafa verið - og eru enn - iðnir við að breyta reglum varðandi umhverfisvernd, borgarleg réttindi og rétt kvenna til fóstureyðinga. Fæstar þessara breytinga hafa verið til hins betra. Það gæti tekið marga mánuði ef ekki ár fyrir næsta forseta að bæta fyrir þann skaða sem Bush hefur valdið.

Listinn er langur en hvað varðar umhverfismál bendir New York Times á eftirfarandi:

THE ENVIRONMENT The administration has been especially busy weakening regulations that promote clean air and clean water and protect endangered species.

Mr. Bush, or more to the point, Vice President Dick Cheney, came to office determined to dismantle Bill Clinton’s environmental legacy, undo decades of environmental law and keep their friends in industry happy. They have had less success than we feared, but only because of the determined opposition of environmental groups, courageous members of Congress and protests from citizens. But the White House keeps trying.

Mr. Bush’s secretary of the interior, Dirk Kempthorne, has recently carved out significant exceptions to regulations requiring expert scientific review of any federal project that might harm endangered or threatened species (one consequence will be to relieve the agency of the need to assess the impact of global warming on at-risk species). The department also is rushing to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list — again. The wolves were re-listed after a federal judge ruled the government had not lived up to its own recovery plan.

In coming weeks, we expect the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a final rule that would weaken a program created by the Clean Air Act, which requires utilities to install modern pollution controls when they upgrade their plants to produce more power. The agency is also expected to issue a final rule that would make it easier for coal-fired power plants to locate near national parks in defiance of longstanding Congressional mandates to protect air quality in areas of special natural or recreational value.

Interior also is awaiting E.P.A.’s concurrence on a proposal that would make it easier for mining companies to dump toxic mine wastes in valleys and streams.

And while no rules changes are at issue, the interior department also has been rushing to open up millions of acres of pristine federal land to oil and gas exploration. We fear that, in coming weeks, Mr. Kempthorne will open up even more acreage to the commercial development of oil shale, a hugely expensive and environmentally risky process that even the oil companies seem in no hurry to begin. He should not. Skopteiknig af politicalhumor.about.com.