President Bush is lying low these days. So low, in fact, that one might assume he has been whiling away his last months in office tossing balls for his terrier and choking on the occasional pretzel. And why not? With his name poison to any would-be politician’s campaign, America’s lame duck leader has had a lot of time to himself during the election.
But Bush & Co haven’t just been twiddling their thumbs. Never misunderestimate W: in its final weeks, the White House is hard at work dismantling many of the environmental protections still standing after eight years of all-out war. It’s scorched earth a la Bush.
Why the sudden flurry of activity? The current administration knows the deregulatory bacchanalia of the last eight years will end when Obama rolls up in January, so it’s rushing to pass out party favours to its industry guests before the Democratic killjoys arrive.
Now to the contents of the goodie bags. First up are attacks on two main environmental laws. Bush officials intend to weaken the Clean Air Act by loosening checks on industrial pollution while making it easier to place power plants next to national parks. Then there’s one for the polar bears: plans are afoot to gut the Endangered Species Act by removing scientific oversight and ignoring the impact of global warming on wildlife.
In fact, the only animal the current administration has displayed any affection for is the fox that guards the henhouse. Hence plans to let factory farms police the effluent they release into waterways and to hand over responsibility for sustainable fisheries to, you guessed it, the fishing industry!
And for those who think Obama will set all to right come Inauguration Day, your new slogan should be: No, he can’t. The old environmental regulations are no legislative Lazarus; once they’re gone, they’re gone and even Barack the Messiah won’t be able to resurrect them for at least a few years.
Bush certainly isn’t the first President to engage in a last-minute legislative cramming session. Near the end of his term, Bill Clinton tried to push through a number of environmentally-friendly initiatives. Clinton passed many of his laws too late, however, leading the incoming Republican staff free to suspend them.
Don’t count on the same mistake from Bush; George may have been a middling student at Yale, but he’s no slacker when it comes to his industry friends. The perpetual frat boy will be looking out for his business brotherhood until the party is over.
