Monday, November 9, 2009

Opinion

Michael Barone

Some of the Environmental Restriction Movement Is Lunacy

July 28, 2008 03:00 PM ET | Michael Barone | Permanent Link | Print

This is my Creators Syndicate column for this week. I hit pretty hard on the environmental restriction groups, who like to portray themselves as pure representatives of the public interest. But, in fact, the people who run these organizations, just like the people who lobby for oil companies, have an economic motive: They want to keep their jobs. Presumably they aren't paid as well as the oil lobbyists, in some cases not nearly so well, but they're far from starving. They live in comfortable houses or condominiums in one of the nation's most expensive housing markets, they have (or many of them do) children bound for college, they (I'm presuming) eat out in nonfast food restaurants more than once a month. The environmental restriction movement has done a lot of good for this country. It helped build support for clean air and clean water legislation that, with perhaps the exceptions of some provisions, has been brilliantly successful public policy.

An affluent democracy acts wisely when it devotes resources to maintaining an ever cleaner environment. But some policies that the environmental restriction groups have pushed for operate irrationally. The Endangered Species Act is a gift for litigators who seek to stop economic activity; the current project is to have the polar bear declared endangered, and then have the Ninth Circuit prohibit any economic activity that produces carbon emissions on the grounds that it will melt the ice floes and endanger the current far-from-endangered polar bear. Lawyer/radio talk show host/blogger Hugh Hewitt has done a definitive job of setting out the environmental restrictionist strategy—and has suggested how to stop it. But there wasn't any room in my column for this.

Tags: legislation | environment

Tools: Share | | Comments (8) | Print

Reader Comments

Enviro-Lunacy

Some comments on yuor op-ed are corrections to some incorrect information included in the piece. First there were oil spills as the result of huricane Katrina. In fact there was some residual oil in the area where John McCian was to hold a photo-op about offshore oil production, so he canceled the whole thing. The oil spilled from damaged oil rigs and pipelines riviled the Exon Valdeze spill. Second the is a test well in the Artic NAtional Wildlife Reserve it was completed by a Canadian firm that works in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountain Region. The report from the test well lists the oil derived is high sulphur heavy crude typical of Eastern Slope region. This product will not be easily processed efficienty into gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, or fuel oil in any economical manner. Besides the Cheney-Bush Administration has deraied the Enviromental Protection Adminstration so as to make it ineffective anyway.

"Even T.Boone Pickens saw the light."

Sorry, Randy. T. Boone Pickens actually qualified that statement by stating that he supports domestic drilling still, just as long as the oil is not foreign.

Michael Barone is the alarmist lunatic! Texas pinches us with high gas prices which makes us want to give up years of environmental progress, and with one stroke of the pen, George Bush does it. My oh my, what sheep we are.

Add your thoughts

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

advertisement

U.S. News Weekly

Subscribe Today

Order the new U.S. News Weekly digital magazine at a special low introductory price!

Michael Barone is a senior writer for U.S.News & World Report and principal coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics. He has written for many publications—including the Economist and the New York Times.

advertisement

NEWSLETTER

Sign up today for the latest headlines from U.S. News & World Report delivered to you free.

RSS FEEDS

Personalize your U.S. News with our feeds of blogs and breaking news headlines.

U.S. NEWS MOBILE

U.S. News daily briefings are also available on your mobile device.

People who read this also read ...

Thomas Jefferson St.

Voters' Top Priority: The Economy

Obama Democrats should stop rushing healthcare reform and address more important issues.

H1N1 Vaccine for Wall Street?

Another example of what's wrong with government run healthcare.

Healthcare Vote Delays a Bad Sign for Dems

Expect more waiting, and arm twisting, as vulnerable reps take the hint from voters.

Americans Want Jobs, Not Healthcare Reform

As the unemployment rate reaches double digits, the public makes its preference known.

California Candidates' Poor Voting Record

Couldn't Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman have put a note in their BlackBerrys about voting?

Pelosi Cracks the Whip on Moderates

She's using fear of payback to push middle-of-the-road Democrats to vote for the House bill.

A Dollar a Day to Keep the Babies Away

North Carolina program aiding at-risk kids needs to go nationwide.

The New V Takes Swipes at Both Sides

Are they sniping at Obama? Sure? Bush too.

Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy.
Make USNews.com your home page.