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Articles by Ben White

Ben White is a contributing reporter at the Washington Post and assistant to columnist David Broder. Previously, he was a writer for the Hotline and editor of the Hotline Weekly.

Featured Article

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) flew right over the cuckoo’s nest and straight into nutville with his widely mocked decision to add “eco-terrorists” to the list of possible suspects responsible for the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Don Young getting restless.

For the unlucky few who missed the Alaska congressman’s appalling bloviation, here’s what he told the Anchorage Daily News: “If you watched what happened [at past protests] in Genoa, in Italy, and even in Seattle, there’s some expertise in that field. … I’m not sure they’re that dedicated but eco-terrorists — which are really based in Seattle — there’s a strong possibility that could be one of the groups.”

We can all have a good laugh — heaven knows we need it — at this inanity. But the cold reality is that the environmental movement may take a big hit in the wake of this week’s tragedy. The conventional wisdom among some green group leaders: “ANWR is toast” (referring, of course, to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge).

If oil price... Read more

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  • Boston Tree Party

    Last Friday, the Boston Globe printed an angry letter to the editor from Todd Paglia of the environmental group Forest Ethics. The charge? That the Globe advertising department, without reasonable explanation, had refused to run a Forest Ethics ad critical of Massachusetts-based Staples, a major Globe advertiser, and that an ombudsman column backing the department’s […]

  • That '70s Show

    President Bush draws the curtain on the administration’s energy policy tomorrow, but there’s not much anxious anticipation. This remarkably non-leaky White House has done a pretty good job drib-drabbing out the whole policy, so much so that you’ll be forgiven if you feel you’ve read the same story about what’s in the plan 10 different […]

  • 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. […]

  • Whitman Sampler

    Muckraker hears from a reliable and informed source that Linda Fisher, EPA assistant administrator for toxics and pesticides under Bush the Elder, will return to the agency to serve as Christine Todd Whitman’s number two. The source described the Fisher appointment as close to a done deal, a fact that did not sit altogether well […]