I’m writing this before the inauguration, but it’ll be over and done by the time you read it. So here’s an emissary from the Bush Era giving a shout-out to all you lucky folks in the brand-new Day of Obama.
It’s hardly been the most talked-about aspect of this election, but the environment had a big day yesterday too. One of the most backward-looking, systematically ignorant administrations in memory—that’d be the Bushies, or the Bushhogs, as I just now decided to call them—kicked off a long retirement in which they’ll watch Obama and his people undo a lot of the regulatory damage wrought since 2001. At least I dearly hope so.
There’s a great rundown on Grist of the Bush environmental legacy. Peruse it and weep. There’s the withdrawal, just two months into his presidency, from the Kyoto protocol; the weakening of the Endangered Species Act; the squelching of scientists who dare to counter Bush-approved beliefs with, well, science. It’s not ALL bad, as Grist duly documents. But on balance, the outgoing pres has little to be proud of when it comes to protection of the planet.
I continue to be stymied by those who consider environmental issues to be fringey, laughable, or secondary to the creation and spending of wealth. I haven’t been bowled over by Obama’s environmental rhetoric by any means, but I am encouraged by a couple of his Cabinet picks and, more generally, by my impression of him as a reasonable person who speaks the same language I do.
My personal message to President 44 is this: Consider yourself the last best hope for turning the tide on an environmental crisis that will define our era. And my message for the rest of us is this: Let’s take Obama at his word that broad-based change will now find a sympathetic reflection in the White House. What will we do to step up our environmental game?