The Friday Evening Non-Fiction Book Club: "Bush versus the Environment" excerpts

[eppur_se_muova]

The Friday Evening Non-Fiction Book Club: "Bush versus the Environment" excerpts

OK, there really is no club, I just wanted to share some stuff I had read. Some caveats: I tend not to buy books until they've made it into paperback, and often not until they're discounted. (I suspect many other DUer's are similarly thrifty, and not necessarily by choice.) So books I've read recently tend to be a little dated. Also, quoting from a book doesn't mean I agree with the author on everything, or even on the quote -- sometimes a bad example is what I'm looking for. Also, I often get very enthusiastic on a particular topic after having read my first book on the subject, so may come across as an 'instant expert' on occasion. That's not my intention, just a sort of "hey, did you know this?" reaction that I still get when I learn something I didn't know previously. And I tend to pick out books on topics where I know enough to be interested, but also know I have a lot to learn. So the books I cite aren't necessarily going to be the acknowledged masterworks in their field, just ones that had an impact on me.

With those caveats noted, I'd like to share some quotes from Robert S. Devine's 2004 opus, "Bush versus the Environment" (Anchor Books, paperback ISBN 1-4000-7521-1), in the hope that those who haven't read it might be encouraged to pick up a copy and learn more fully just how thorough Bu**sh**'s all-out assault on the environment has been, and continues to be. If it leads to a few more royalties for the author, well and good.

I don't have a copyright on FENFBC, so others feel free to post on the same topic. If no one kicks or recs, I'll cease such posts.

NOTE TO MODS: Since text paras tend to run long, I will usually limit to four paras, not five. Also, I will not quote material from a majority of the chapters of any book, so that my postings for one book, even combined, will not constitute a substitute or summary of the entire book.

Chapter 4: There Ought to Be a Law Enforcer

Further evidence of slack enforcement crops up in research compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project, a new nonprofit that watchdogs enforcement of U.S. environmental laws. EIP is headed by Eric Schaeffer, who served as EPA's Director of the Office of Regulatory Enforcement until 2002. His organization found that in fiscal year 2002—the first full fiscal year under Bush—the penalties leveled against polluters by EPA fell dramatically. In the three years prior the Bush the amount of money recovered from polluting companies in federal court averaged about $103 million annually. In 2002, under Bush, that figure dropped to $51 million. EIP's work and other studies further indicate that more often than in the past the current Administration has pursued minor violators and less often has pursued transgressions committed by Fortune 500 companies. As reported in The Sacramento Bee in July 2003, EPA agents say that before Bush came into power they targeted "the most significant and egregious violators." EPA officials challenge EIP's findings, but in these matters EPA's credibility has taken a tumble, as evidenced in the rest of that Bee article.

The story reports that the Bush EPA intentionally exaggerated the strength of its antipollution enforcement record. Suarez said that "the 674 enforcement cases initiated in 2002 were the highest ever." But the press release touting this supposed accomplishment did not reveal that 190 of the cases involved counterterrorism and not pollution. The Bee reports several other sleight-of-hand embellishments, as well. For instance, EPA agents said that high-level EPA officials pressured them to open weak cases just to fatten the agency's stats. One senior agent told the Bee that "we were encouraged to do that—find anything that's got any breath to it and put a case number on it. We were approaching the end of a fiscal year. They wanted to make it look like a good year." Mike Fisher, a lawyer in EPA's mid-Atlantic office, expressed his frustration in an e-mail acquired by the newspaper: "The press and the public deserve the truth about the {EPA's} Criminal Investigation Division's enforcement accomplishments." He referred to one of EPA's methods for inflating its record as "seriously misleading." EPA headquarters offers denials and excuses, but none is very convincing, especially as information in the Bee story counters nearly all of EPA's spin.

The Endangered Species Act ranks near the top of environmental laws that the Administration does little to enforce. This comes as no surprise. From top to bottom the President's environmental appointees dislike the ESA. In fact, in their pre-Administration jobs many current Bush officials worked to dismantle it. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, for example, whose agency is the primary enforcer of the Act, has a long history of antipathy to this keystone statute. In 1995, when she was Attorney General of Colorado, Norton even argued against the ESA in the U.S. Supreme Court. She attempted to strike at one of the pillars of the law by claiming that habitat destruction that harms endangered species isn't prohibited by the ESA. The Supreme Court did not agree with her.

Running counter to the prevailing hostility of Bush officials, an overwhelming number of Americans approve of the Endangered Species Act. A 2002 survey found that 78 percent wanted the government to maintain a strong ESA and 91 percent supported vigorous enforcement of laws that protect wildlife habitat. Such poll numbers motivate the Administration to try to skirt the ESA through limp enforcement rather than confronting it.

:grr::grr::grr: There's lots more, at least as inflammatory. Expect more next Friday, & bring your favorite antacid!

EIP report: http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pub85.cfm

Sacramento Bee (fee-based, JavaScript & cookies required):
http://www.sacbee.com/109/story/7178.html

habitat protection: http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/press_releases_folder/2002/04_17_2002_environmental_groups_detail_rollbacks_of_federal_wildlife_protections_by_bush_administration_-_legal_action_to_protect_florida_m.php?ht=open%20season%20open%20season

ON EDIT: added links.

[islandmkl]

1. damn, I thought it was going to be "Bush saves the environment"...

part of the whole "Bush Saves..." series:

Economy
Civil Rights
Peace
Jobs