GOP's Holy War on Nature

[sweetroxie]

Tomgram: Chip Ward, Sarah Palin's Holy War on Nature

Way back in September 2005, not so long after Katrina hit New Orleans and Americans discovered just what the Bush administration was -- and wasn't -- capable of, environmental activist and author Chip Ward wrote a piece for TomDispatch, "Left Behind," on "Bush's holy war on nature." In it he outlined just what that administration was, in fact, quite skilled at doing. He wrote, in part:


"During their time in power, Bush's officials have worked systematically and energetically to undo half a century of environmental law and policy based on hard-learned lessons about how to sustain healthy environments. Strikingly, they have failed to protect the environment even when they could have done so without repercussions from special-interest campaign contributors. Something more is going on."

While the administration's "holy war on nature" has certainly gotten some real attention, issue by issue, in the mainstream media, its totality, its enormity has seldom been fully assessed. Now, John McCain has picked a vice presidential candidate who, as Ward, reminds us, is guaranteed to continue that same holy war -- in her case, with special fervor. The media and Internet feeding frenzy on Sarah Palin has been… well, frenzied beyond belief. This piece, however, goes to the heart of what matters when it comes to the Alaskan governor. Tom


The Evolution of John McCain

Why He Picked Sarah Palin, Carbon Queen
By Chip Ward

Despite the media feeding frenzy, we still may be asking ourselves, "Just who exactly is Sarah Palin?" Mixed in with the Davy-Crockett-meets-SuperMom vignettes -- all those moose hunting, ice fishing, snowmobiling, baby-juggling, and hockey-momming moments -- we've also learned that she doesn't care much for her former brother-in-law and wasn't afraid to use her office to go after his job as a state trooper; that she was for the "bridge to nowhere" before she was against it; that she's against earmarks unless they benefit her constituents; that she can deliver a snappy wisecracking speech, thinks banning books in libraries is okay, considers herself a pit bull with lipstick, and above all else, wants to drill the ever-lovin' daylights out of every corner of her home state (which John McCain's handlers have somehow translated into being against Big Oil, since she insisted on a marginally bigger cut of the profits for Alaskans).

Oh, and -- not that this is very important to Americans or the planet -- she now thinks that global warming might possibly be human-made… sorta… though she didn't before, despite the fact that the state she governs is on the frontline of climate change. And, of course, she's a classic right-wing, fundamentalist Christian: against abortion -- check; against same-sex marriage -- check; against stem-cell research -- check; favors teaching Creationism in public schools -- check.

It's that last item, her willingness to put Creationism up against the teaching of evolutionary science in the classroom on a he-says-she-says basis, that's far more revealing of just who our new Republican vice presidential candidate is than we generally assume. It deserves the long, hard look that it hasn't yet gotten. Most Democrats and progressives tend to think of the teaching of Creationism as a mere sidebar item on their agenda of political don't-likes, but it's not. Sarah Palin's bias towards Creationism is a window into her political soul and a measure of John McCain's hypocrisy.

It's possible that the public has been fooled into thinking of McCain as a "maverick" when it comes to his party's abysmal record on the environment, but his selection of Palin as his running mate sends quite a different message. In fact, he's potentially put future generations on a "bridge to nowhere" (or perhaps to the fourteenth century). Whether we know it or not, we should now be duly warned: The Palin nomination is the equivalent of launching a "surge strategy" in the Republican war on the environment.

The Republican Holy War on Nature (Continued)

Read the rest: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174979/chip_ward_sarah_palin_s_holy_war_on_nature

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Great article.

K & R