Bush Versus the Environment

Rating:
Summary: More anti-Bush than pro-ennvironment
Review: As much as I'm inclined to do so, I can't really attack this book. In fact, its a pretty good attempt to delineate the many ways in which president Bush is selling America's environment right out from under our feet, not that we really need a book to tell us that. I essentially agree with every claim the author makes: that the White House encourages lawsuits against the government as a way of weakening policy, that Bush appoints like-minded anti-regulatory staff to head up the major environmental departments, and that the president is doing everything he can to pave the way for exploitation of America's last pristine wildernesses.

What I really don't agree with is the author's reading of Bush's motives. It's fairly vogue among the left just now to paint the president in the most cynical and self-serving terms. But that isn't quite the case. I'm no Bush fan, but it ought to be obvious to even the crudest observer that the president has more weighing on him than merely the demands of the fatcat lobby, which is what Devine seems to imply. In addition, I think Devine adopts a tone of desperation, as though this may just be America's last hurrah. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In numerous ways, the Bush years will only further the liberal cause. Sure, the president's agenda is frightening. But he's such a poor administrator that he has no idea how to achieve it. From both a liberal and a conservative perspective, the Bush presidency will prove to be a flop, simply because of the president's lack of ability. The environment will be fine, and so will the rest of us.