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Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental laws

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by Areometer, Dec 7, 2004.

  1. Areometer

    Areometer Silver Business Sponsor

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    George Bush's new administration, and its supporters controlling Congress, are setting out to dismantle three decades of US environmental protection.

    In little over a month since his re-election, they have announced that they will comprehensively rewrite three of the country's most important environmental laws, open up vast new areas for oil and gas drilling, and reshape the official Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

    They say that the election gave them a mandate for the measures - which, ironically, will overturn a legislative system originally established by the Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford - even though Mr Bush went out of his way to avoid emphasising his environmental plans during his campaign.

    > Read More
     
  2. Robert Taylor

    Robert Taylor New Member

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    The hysterical nature of this piece will be repeated in countless fundraising letters sent to Sierra Club, Democrats and other associations.

    The charge has been made repeatedly that Republicans want to filthy the air and dirty the water, or maybe it was the other way around?

    We were also told that if the GOP controlled both houses of congress and the presidency that old folks would be eating dog food and be cast into the river because the Republicans would end social security so as to give the money to their big business backers. None of it was ever true but the over the top charges have to be made to get the cash to come in from the conspiracy minded.

    Who gives a darn if we drill for oil in the frozen wastes? That pipeline that was so assailed many years ago before construction has not caused some ecological disaster at all in Alaska. What is a cause for concern is the socialist government of Hugo Chavez refusing to upgrade its equipment such as its ageing tanker fleet, one of which was responsible for a major spill in our waters scant days ago.

    But socialists get a pass from extremists.
     
  3. kingofgix

    kingofgix New Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    I can't wait, and I say full speed ahead. Then we will be assured of a Democratic landslide in the next election and it take the Republicans decades to regain power. And although some of the environmental damage will be essentially permanent and irreversible, the long term benefit of getting Bush and the rest of those A-holes out of office will be worth it.
     
  4. finman

    finman Senior Member

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    Try this site for some decent Bush hates the environment news: http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/index.php

    I'm so sick of people being ignorant of what this administration has done the past 4 years and and will do for the next 4 years. Do some research. The internet has vast piles of info that can really tick you off about this president and his environmental policies. Or just continue to be ignorant. Really.

    Love my Prius! Question my gov't.
     
  5. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    :violin: I am so SICK of political B.S. on this site designed to dissemenate Prius help and information. A site has been set up for political discussions and comments. Post your drivel there.
     
  6. flyingprius

    flyingprius New Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    Well God Bless America!!!!! :pukeleft: :pukeright: :pukeleft:
    This is so incredibly frustrating to me that Bush thinks that he can pollute our land for his profit! This just emphasizes my utter disgust for Bush and his B.S. rightwing agenda. He does whatever he can to tear up the earth and threaten civil liberties and then says "god bless america" or some religious slogan and then half of this country thinks he's the next best thing since god. :guns: :guns:

    All I can hope for is an organized movement to stop him.

    Charles,
    This website is for discussing anything from MPG to abortion. You may notice next time that this thread is under "Environmental Discussion". Most people here find it extremely relevent that a plan to have their environment wrecked is being planned. In fact, they might even want to discuss it, hence this thread.
     
  7. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I am as disappointed in the plans to open up a wildlife refuge for oil drilling as I am disappointed in our need to open the wildlife refuge for oil drilling. I use quite a few analogies when I’m writing technical manuals and presenting training courses. Here’s one that seems appropriate in this case:

    “We have to open up the wildlife reserve to support our dependency on oilâ€
    equates to
    “I have to work another job to support my crack addiction.â€

    Some people would agree that working a second job would bring the supplemental income while others would advise me to do what I can to quit smoking crack.

    You might think my little analogy is silly, but it makes sense to me.

    And then there is this from hybridcars.com:
    According to Environmental Attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, senior counsel for the National Resources Defense Fund:

    * If we raise fuel efficiency standards in American cars by one mile per gallon, in one year, we would save twice the amount of oil that could be obtained from the arctic national wildlife refuge

    * Raise it by 2.7 miles a gallon to eliminate all the oil imports from Iraq and Kuwait combined

    * Raise it by 7.6 mpg, we eliminate one-hundred percent of our gulf oil imports into this country
     
  8. kingofgix

    kingofgix New Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    The analogy is great, because its begs the question "solve the problem, or make some bad choices so that the problem (and addictive side benefits) can be perpetuated?". Both of the problems, crack dependency or oil dependency, have their side benefits; getting high or getting rich (in case of the oil industry).
     
  9. finman

    finman Senior Member

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    political BS? Well, the BS is definitely coming from this administration. political? My clean air and water certainly seem to be. Please don't sell out my environmental concerns for corporate greed/political power. Read and learn. Healthy forests? Allows MORE trees AWAY from civilization to be cut, protecting NO ONE. Clear Skies? Eliminates requirements for big industry to install cleaning devices for the crap they spew. I'd go one, but all this and more is out there on the 'net as part of the Freedom Of Info Act. Hurry, before the "patriot act 6 or 7" gets passed that would eliminate ANY input from the people. Love my Prius! Really disappointed with this adminstration.
     
  10. TheMaskedMan

    TheMaskedMan New Member

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    Amen!!!

    Amen! Political Nonsense on the wrong website. Drivel is a great word for it.
     
  11. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    :violin: Howdy "Masked Man"....

    It seems more and more difficult to extract useful and helpful information on PriusChat. It appears it is becoming increasingly a forum for frustrated posters who can't seem to find anything but negative ideas to express. Reminds me of small organization business meetings where those who contribute the least comment the most and really don't have anything to say. Sorta like "HEY, LOOK AT ME!" - you know, like a child. There are so many chat sites approprate for this sort of commentary. Why clutter up a useful forum?

    I suppose I am surprised that the moderators (Thanks Moderators for giving of your time !) don't make more efforts to keep the postings on the subject The Remarkable Prius
     
  12. Ms. Piggy

    Ms. Piggy New Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    Well, last time I checked, no one is forcing anybody to read every topic. I think the title of this one was pretty clear and if you didn't care for it, you could just have ignored it. I can't imagine anybody expecting to find much info about owning or operating a Prius in this particular forum (environmental) or topic.

    Jumping off my soapbox now...
     
  13. kingofgix

    kingofgix New Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    This topic is posted in the Environmental Forum, which is described as:

    "Discuss the environmental aspects of the hybrid Prius, cars in general, & other environmental issues."

    I would say this thread fits nicely into the "other environmental issues" portion of the category. If you don't want to read about non-Prius issues, then I would suggest that you stop reading the non-Prius threads.

    As far as "Polital B.S." and "drivel", etc. Its strikes as me interesting that those who are labeling this discussion as such are also the only ones who haven't offered any information in support of their position. Probably because they can't. Bush is a disasterous President from an environmental perspective, and to argue otherwise would be impossible to do (assuming you were planning on basing your agument on actual information or facts).

    But back to the topic. What I find most disturbing about Bush is his un-Republican approach to environmental issues. I thought Republicans were supportive of reducing the size of the Federal Government and giving power back to the states. I live in Colorado, and the idea of opening much of this state to oil and gas exploration is very unpopoular. There was an editorial in the Denver papers written by the Mayors of several towns that are in the middle of lands "targetted" for exploration. They are very much against this, and wrote quite eloquently as to why, but the Republican administration could care less what the local people think. And as with timber sales, the Feds are going to spend our tax $ to build roads so that the lumber, oil and gas companies can take our resources for essentially free. It will end up costing us all $, but the companies will make huge profits. I guess thats all that matters....
     
  14. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    :wave: Well, a HEARTFELT THANKS..!!
    I had not noticed the "Environmental Forum" before. and I suppose "Environmental" has somehow been transliterated to "Political."

    I am grateful for learning how to avoid this section.
     
  15. prius04

    prius04 New Member

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    The political BS is one of the best parts of priuschat, IMHO.

    As for the dismantling of 30 years of environmental policy... What do we need the environment for? Does it give us jobs? Does it pay taxes?

    And more importantly, haven't you heard of the rapture?

    http://www.raptureready.com/faq/faq149.html
     
  16. KMO

    KMO Senior Member

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    So, Mr Suitt, people shouldn't be allowed to talk about the environmental policies of the government in the environmental forum? :crazyeyes:

    The government clearly has a large role to play in the environment, so its inevitable that no significant discussion of the environment can occur without discussing governments' policies.
     
  17. finman

    finman Senior Member

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    Denial is not just a river in Egypt. The overwhelming amount of facts about and insight to our current, inept, woeful administration's environmental policies are almost endless! Google it. Learn it. Share it. I can only hope we can learn from it all. Drive fun, drive clean, drive Prius!
     
  18. kingofgix

    kingofgix New Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    The overwhelmingly woeful environmental stance of our president is going to hurt every American in many ways. For example:

    Terrorism. We are literally dumping billions of $ into the Middle East. This money can't help but get into the wrong hands. It also gets largely into the hands of the Saudi's, who have been labeled by Bin Laden as the "Parasite Princes". Bin Laden despises the Saudi's as much as American, and our friendship and support of the Saudi's need not be, except for oil. This relationship only serves to inflame and intensify the radical Islamic sector.

    Economy. We are headed toward ever increasing energy prices which is going hurt every person in this cCountry directly, as well as hurt the overall economy. As the Indian and Chinese economies ramp up, demand for oil will go up rapidly, and thus the cost. If we don't do something to wean ourselves off of the pretroleum tit we will all pay dearly. Bush's plan is to drill for more oil, which will in fact help over the very near term. But then we will be in worse trouble for ever. His plan is kind of like charging your mortage payment to the credit card because your checking account it too low. Covers the payment for now, but eventually you're screwed.

    Environment. The value of something like the Arctic National Wildlife refuge may be debatable, but to me its priceless. And there is nothing I hate more than to permanently destroy something beautiful because you are too weak and stupid to do the right thing. Its like selling your Mother's wedding ring to buy drugs. Disgusting and unnecessary. Shame on all of America if we let Bush do drill there, because the reasons for doing it are so political and shallow.

    Global Warming. An honest evaluation of this subject tells you its a crisis at best, or the end of the world as we know it. The Republicans have stalled this issue off, and continue to do so in the face of mounting evidence of the threat. And the sad part is, I beleive the long term health of our economy depends on doing everything we can to HALT global warming (see Economy above). To keep the cost of everything we buy, heating our homes, driving, etc. from spiraling out of control over the next several decades we must find alternatives. And in finding those alternatives we will create jobs and keep pace with the rest of the world technologically. This is not to mention the cost of rising sea levels, which ultimately may be greater than we can bear. So much of the worlds population lives at or very near the sea, a 1 foot rise in the ocean level will be devastating. As yes, these things may have happened cyclically in the past (as Rush Limbaugh is so fond of pointing out). But they happened over millenia, not decades, and in a world that was unihabited by humans, not filled with them!
     
  19. pkjohna

    pkjohna Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    As entertaining as this is...would someone please move this thread over to Fred's?
     
  20. cybele

    cybele New Member

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    Re: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 yrs of environmental

    If the subject gets back to the environmental policies of the current/continuing administration, it belongs in Environmental Discussion.

    This forum was set up specifically as a focused off topic forum for discussing environmental issues that, while not on the topic of the Prius all the time, are near and dear to many Prius owner's hearts.

    As has been stated, you are under no obligation to read every post within this forum. There are certainly opinions expressed in even the main Prius forums that offend me, but I find that just not continuing to read the discussions has kept my blood pressure down.

    Unfortunately politics is very hard to separate from the environment, because politics is planetarily based.

    With that out of the way ....

    My gut has always told me that opening up the Arctic Wildlife Refuge would be a mistake, but is there a possibility, that with good oversight and management that it could allow us a smidge of energy independence?