A Green Salute

As Al Gore's pivotal soon-to-be-released documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, makes clear, George W. Bush's darkest legacy in the long run may be his unmitigated assault on the environment and his campaign to cover up the immediate threat of global warming. The Bush Administration has undermined the Environmental Protection Agency, appointed corporate cronies to critical environmental posts and muzzled top scientists from warning the public about the climate crisis. It was no exaggeration when Gore declared, "George W. Bush has by all odds been by far the worst President for the environment in the entire history of the United States of America--bar none." Yet Bush's actions have also galvanized the environmental movement, as activists have redoubled their efforts to save the planet. In celebration of Earth Day 2006, we salute those who took part in the top five environmental victories of the past year.

Saving ANWR. In what the Sierra Club called an "against-all-odds victory for wildlife, wild places and all Americans," the Senate rejected a GOP attempt to attach provisions to the Defense Appropriations Bill that would have opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil. And weeks ago, the House Budget Committee also refused to appropriate funds for ANWR drilling in the FY2007 budget. Thanks to overwhelming pressure from environmental advocates, one of our nation's most pristine natural refuges remains safe from corporate poachers.

Governors Embrace Apollo. In July the Apollo Alliance gained some important new supporters. Six new Democratic governors--Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Christine Gregoire of Washington, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Brian Schweitzer of Montana--joined an earlier trio--Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Bill Richardson of New Mexico--in embracing the Alliance's goal of achieving sustainable energy independence within a decade. The nine governors are all leaders of state-based efforts at energy efficiency and increased use of renewables, the core twin planks of the Apollo program, which calls for a national investment of $300 billion over ten years to build the production and distribution infrastructure for a cleaner energy economy.

Subscriber Login

User Name

Password

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 68 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.
• Reprint this article. Click here for rights and information.