Remember this: * designates a dump in Fresno as National Historic Landmark

My husband and I were talking about this yesterday. I had forgotten all about it until he brought it up.



Published on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 in the Los Angeles Times
George W: Garbage In, Garbage Out
by John Balzar

In American politics, there are crystalline moments. Something small happens to sum up things bigger. Jimmy Carter fights off a "killer rabbit." Jerry Ford stumbles. Michael Dukakis rides in a tank. The elder George Bush puzzles over a modern cash register. To that, we can now add: George W. Bush designates a dump in Fresno as a national historic landmark.

snip...
The fact is, Bush has turned his administration over to people who actually think to memorialize a 145-acre heap of rotting garbage as a notable part of our heritage. And it's not just the deed, which might be a minor lapse except it occurs when Americans of both parties wonder how an administration can be so utterly tone-deaf to concerns about stewardship and a clean environment.

So, we despair. But let's also take heart. With a festering mound of trash to symbolize George W. Bush's view of America, greater scrutiny is apt to now befall the more serious outrages he envisions. For instance, how about $35 billion in subsidies the administration is pushing for its pals to perpetuate our dependence on oil, gas, coal and nuclear power?

snip...
Should we reimburse oil drillers with $370 million in cash to hire consultants to write fast-track environmental assessments? Should we give them $3.9 billion in low-cost leases and loans so they can move into the deep ocean? Must we subsidize their low-producing oil wells by cutting royalty charges $491 million?

Should we add $2 billion to the $2.3 billion that has been frittered away without results in the last 15 years trying to transform coal into something that isn't coal?

All of these, and more, are contained in the president's energy bill as passed by the GOP-controlled House.

more...
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0829-09.htm