RWOS Environmental Skirmishes

To be perfectly fair, I should note that not all Republicans are
opposed to protection of the environment.  For example, there
is an organization known as rel="tag">Republicans for Environmental Protection.
 One of their members even published an editorial: href="http://www.rep.org/opinions/op-eds/90.html">Conservation
Starts with Obeying the Law.



However, the Bush administration is opposed to such protections,
particularly when they get in the way of the energy industry's quest to
set new records in their quest for profits. Never mind their
lip service to "the rule of law."



Sometimes, there is good news from the title="Republican War on Science">RWOS
front.  Some good news was reported in the Washington Post
recently:



href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501644.html">

href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501644.html">Bush
Policy Irks Judges in West

Rulings Criticize Agencies for Not Protecting
the Environment

By Blaine Harden

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, October 6, 2006; Page A03



SEATTLE, Oct. 5 -- Using language that suggests they are fed up with
the Bush administration, federal judges across the West have issued a
flurry of rulings in recent weeks, chastising the government for
repeated and sometimes willful failure to enforce laws protecting fish,
forests, wildlife and clean air.



In decisions in Oregon, California, Montana and Wyoming, judges have
criticized the judgment, expertise and, in some cases, integrity of the
federal agencies that manage natural resources on public lands.



The rulings come at a time when an emerging bipartisan coalition of
western politicians, hunters, anglers and homeowners has joined
conservation groups in objecting to the rapid pace and environmental
consequences of President Bush's policies for energy extraction on
federal land.



Specialists in environmental law cite a noticeable increase in the
number of recent court rulings in which federal judges in the West have
ruled against the administration, using blunt language that shows
impatience and annoyance...

This may show that there is even more fracturing of the unity within
the Republican Party.  



The counterattacks directed at the RWOS have primary come from the
opposition parties, but it is important to note that there are some
Republicans, too, who are fed up with distortions, suppressions, and
misuses of science by high government officials.