Thursday, July 17, 2008

Fiddling while the planet burns


No matter which presidential candidate gets elected in November, one can be assured that they will be a vast improvement on the current administration when it comes to having concern for our environment. The Bush-Cheney team seems to go out of its way to not only allow destruction of the environment, but to encourage it. Because, you see, they don't work for you and me, and our children, grandchildren and great-granchildren. They take their marching orders from the big oil companies and the polluters. A case in point was a story that I read in the Washington Post while on vacation. Here's the lead paragraph of the story: "The Bush administration has decided not to take any new steps to regulate greenhouse gas emissions before the president leaves office, despite pressure from the Supreme Court and broad accord among senior federal officials that new regulation is appropriate now." As usual, the administration doesn't care about what some silly court tells it to do, or what even its own experts have to say. Later, the Post story said this: "To defer compliance with the Supreme Court's demand (for action on the pollution issue), the White House has walked a tortured policy path, editing its officials' congressional testimony, refusing to read documents prepared by career employees and approved by top appointees, requesting changes to computer models to lower estimates of the benefits of curbing carbon dioxide, and pushing narrowly drafted legislation on fuel-economy standards that officials said was meant to sap public interest in wider regulatory action." Bush's own Environmental Protection Agency issued a finding last December that global warming exists, beyond doubt, and that there is strong evidence that public welfare is endangered by emissions. The Post also reported that Jason Burnett, a high-ranking EPA official, sent the findings about public endangerment to the White House via e-mail, but the Office of Management and Budget refused to even open the e-mail. Further, the report said that Cheney's office had directed Burnett to prevent EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson from telling Congress that "greenhouse gas emissions harm the environment." Burnett, to his credit, refused. We all should be angered by the obvious disingenuousness and stonewalling by the Bush administration, but really, I guess we should be used to it by now. Where is the outrage? Oh, I forgot, we're more interested in our daily updates on the Pitt-Jolie twins.

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15 Comments:

Blogger OPP said...

dont worry Brant, Halliburton will find a way to save us!

July 17, 2008 at 1:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And we thought Nixon was bad!

July 17, 2008 at 2:05 PM  
Blogger Roger said...

Why should President Bush initiate any new legislation at this time? Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have made it quite clear that they will be sure no legislation that might be favorable to the President will reach the floor for vote. They have effectively locked down any movement of any kind.

Consider the oil drilling issue for one example. Apparently, many Dems in Congress support what George Bush proposed a few days ago, but Pelosi and Reid have made it clear that any vote of such a measure would never reach the floor. They, and their similar-minded collegues as Chair of Committees, have full control what pieces of legislation reach the floor. Oil drilling is not one of them that will make it. So, why should President Bush make more proposals, knowing that they will go nowhere?

I am not disagreeing with your assessment of the matter, but rather pointing out the reality of how the process works.

July 17, 2008 at 9:22 PM  
Blogger Ellipses said...

Brant,

Any info on the dimensions of the clock tower at McIlvane? If it's just the clock, I can probably store it... if it's the whole tower, well... you know, not so much :-)

-ellipses

July 18, 2008 at 10:03 AM  
Blogger Brant said...

Dotted one: Not sure on the dimensions. You might be able to find a phone number in the book for that guy whose business in Scenery Hill is mentioned in the story.

Roger: I think the Democrats and Republicans are equally disgusting when it comes to making sure the other party doesn't accomplish anything that it could boast about on the campaign trail. What about us, the American people? Do we really think they give a tinker's dam about us? I would recommend to you a good book I just finished. It's by Matt Taibbi and called "The Great Derangement." The section on the inner workings of Congress will make you want to puke. Cheers.

July 18, 2008 at 10:47 AM  
Blogger Ellipses said...

Matt Taibbi is a funny dude.

-ellipses

July 18, 2008 at 10:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This administration would be so much better if it would simply embrace science...

-ellipses

July 18, 2008 at 6:02 PM  
Blogger Brant said...

They're afraid of being blinded.

July 18, 2008 at 6:07 PM  
Blogger Roger said...

Brandt: I agree with both sides being equally guilty on the point of lockdown. I cited the current situation only because of what is now in place, but the lockdown has been likely when the roles were reversed.

July 19, 2008 at 8:55 PM  
Blogger Brant said...

Roger
I'm old enough (sadly) to remember the day when we had real leaders who were sincerely interested in doing what was right for the country as a whole, not in playing politics with every single substantive issue. People like Hugh Scott, Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole in the Senate, and Carl Albert and our own Doc Morgan in the House. Aren't many like them around these days.

July 19, 2008 at 9:42 PM  
Blogger Ellipses said...

Do you remember the controversy surrounding a starbucks ad that ran shortly after 9-11? Two frozen fruit concoctions standing next to each other with a dragonfly in the proximity... I think the tag line was "crash into cool" or something like that... people went apeshit because of what they saw as too much of a parallel to the events of 9-11... anyway, your picture reminded me of that... I'm not spazzy outraged or anything... just sayin'.

Screw it, I found it...

http://www.dailies.jmvdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/toocool.jpg

-ellipses

July 21, 2008 at 2:05 PM  
Blogger Brant said...

I see what you mean about the smokestack photo. I think some people (not you) sit around all day scanning the media just for the purpose of finding something to go apesh!t about. It's like that Janet Jackson Super Bowl thing. If you could see anything, and I sure didn't, it was for a split second. Fortunately, the FCC fine has been overturned. Get a grip, people.

July 21, 2008 at 3:39 PM  
Blogger Ellipses said...

Sure, her boob was exposed... but she had a freakin' hubcap on her nipple...

I do spend all day trying to find stuff to be outraged about... I just don't get outraged very easily :-)

Sooo, basically, I just look at pictures and quotes and stuff... and think... "Nope... not bad enough to write a letter" :-)
Ha!

-ellipses

July 21, 2008 at 3:50 PM  
Blogger Brant said...

I've seen a lot more skin on my trips to the seashore. Sometimes that's a good thing; sometimes not so much.

July 21, 2008 at 4:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Satan's face seen in smoke from Brant's smokestacks!!

July 22, 2008 at 6:21 PM  

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