Climate Politics

Bush's attack on federal resources and rules was honed in the states

It has been a busy few months of cutting costs, stifling regulations, and limiting government’s reach for George W. Bush and his business allies. Now that Bush has halted U.S. efforts to solve global warming, sidelined rules to protect 60 million acres of wilderness, suspended new limits on arsenic in drinking water, and supported new […]

How the Police Count Protesters in Three Easy Steps

You Say It's Your Earth Day

A review of Arctic Refuge

First, the facts. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge covers about 19 million acres in northeastern Alaska, almost all north of the Arctic Circle. It was created in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which renamed and more than doubled the size of an existing wildlife range, designated about 8 million acres within the refuge as wilderness, and prohibited oil and gas production in the refuge unless authorized by Congress.

In a confidential memo, President Bush tells EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman what's on his

Christie — Heard they hammered you in Montreal about the Kyoto thing. Don’t let it get you down, Whitman! They’re foreigners, these people, and foreigners feed on confrontation. It’s cultural. Did you see that recent French or German movie, in black and white? Cultural. Good of you to leave the conference early. I take it […]

Fear and Loathing in D.C.

Christie Todd Whitman. When it comes to listing body blows inflicted on the environmental movement by the Bush administration in recent days, it’s hard to know where to start. Pick up the paper any day of the week and you’ll likely find a fresh slap in the face of U.S. EPA “Administrator” Christie Todd Whitman. […]

And other words from readers

  Re: The Noble Citizen Dear Editor: This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt moved to cry upon hearing that someone I didn’t know personally had died. I feel that I’ve come to know Donella Meadows in the past couple of years. Many times I have praised her writing, her clear […]

Boxer Rebellion

Democrats say that President Bush’s recent moves to roll back environmental protections have given them their first rallying point since Bush took office. “We believe that George W. Bush has declared war on the environment,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) last week. Mark Mellman, a leading Democratic pollster, said, “I think Bush is in the […]

The case for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Who doesn’t want to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? It’ll be fun! We will wear special outfits, and when the oil gets in our mustaches, we’ll take silly pictures and send them as postcards. The future, now more than ever, is a vast, inky utopia. Babies will squeal with delight and […]

Can laws be written that inspire reverence for the land?

As usual, Charles Wilkinson is pacing. Hands stuffed in the front pockets of his Levi’s, head down, he paces the lecture hall, up one stairway and down the other, his students’ heads swiveling to follow him. Charles Wilkinson, law man. Photo: Larry Harwood, University of Colorado at Boulder. But on this December morning, during the […]