"Sin," of course, is a word we've agreed to stop using in polite company-a cheap way of making an argument, its force eroded by its constant application to matters of personal style. So let's refer to the pattern of unfortunate option selection by the Bush administration when it comes to the environment. Two main types emerge.
There is the unfortunate option selection of commission. This covers the aggressive vandalism of the nation's landscape, a deliberate and carefully planned assault on every part of the nation's landscape. To give just a few examples on a very long list: The Bush administration has returned huge sections of the national forests to the tender ministrations of the logging industry on the pretext that this will prevent forest fires (the "Healthy Forests Initiative"); they are trying to let power plants increase the amount of sulfur and nitrogen that they are allowed to emit (the "Clear Skies" initiative); they have allowed mining companies to appropriate as much federal land as they would like on which to store the slag from their operations (the "Thanks for Campaign Contribution" initiative); and they have tried, despite millions of letters, to overturn earlier decisions on everything from saving roadless areas to banning snowmobiles in Yellowstone (the "Screw You" initiative).
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