eye on I day

Four years on the Environment. The Natural Resources Defense Counsel offers their comprehensive review of Bush's first four years of environmental policy. Read the pdf here. From the overview:

Not surprisingly, after four years, the Bush administration's relentless anti-environmental agenda has translated into real damage on the ground. A recent Knight Ridder analysis of government data shows that Americans now face a dirtier environment while polluters largely get a free pass. Since the Bush administration began, health warnings to avoid eating locally caught fish have doubled and completed cleanup of toxic wastes at Superfund sites have fallen by 52 percent; yet civil citations issued to polluters have dropped by 57 percent and criminal prosecutions of polluters have fallen 17 percent.

Meanwhile, the administration is making every effort to keep the public in the dark about the policies that contribute to these degraded environmental conditions. It has taken unprecedented steps to cut citizens out of the decision-making process for a number of critical public health and land management policies.

For instance, just days before this past Christmas holiday, the administration gutted its public comment process for federal forest management plans. It also routinely shares working drafts of public health standards with polluters and chemical manufacturers, and takes their suggestions but gives the public only 60 days to comment on the final version.

It is unsuprising that this group released a critical piece on the President. What is useful is that report's catalogue of administration initiatives. Have a look.