Bush's Environmental Contradictions

Many know Bush as the President who didn't do anything except for sending people off to war, and destroying our environment. In the article “Deadly Sins” by Katharine Mieszkowski, it clearly states all the actions Bush upheld or approved of that hurt our planet. For example, Sin 1 says that Bush “blew the hot air” that is global warming. Since he refused to the greenhouse gas emission reductions it, the atmosphere suffers. “The most shameful thing we've done of all is to walk away from the international debate on climate, which has crippled the debate and caused everyone else in the world to think that we're hypocritical and deluded”. We can't expect other major countries such as China and India to not use their coal, get rich, and ruin the atmosphere especially when we are practically doing the same thing.

Sin 4 in the article mentions how Bush abandoned the endangered species. “All the high-profile listings, such as polar bears, have come about after the government has been sued or petitioned by environmental groups and citizens.” The Bush administration “destroyed” the adequacy of the government biologists to “do their jobs”. They forced many scientists out, took money from their budgets, stopped the research they had to be shared, and prevented the scientists from “commenting to the media.” On another note the administration also tried to force on their regulations about allowing the government to build roads or start mining projects without having to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about if it would “harm endangered species”.

Bush’s sin number 5 has to do with the drilling that has been taking place at the onshore federal lands during the past seven years. Or number 6 where he would “thin” the forests by cutting down many trees and paving roads through the wilderness. Even with the negative image of Bush and the environment, he still was able to have a good impact on the world in the end. “Bush's decision to safeguard far-flung areas totaling 195,280 square miles, which comes just two weeks before he leaves office, underscores his contradictory environmental record.” In the article “Bush to Protect three Areas in Pacific” by Juliet Eilperin, she writes about the major success Bush achieved through conserving the greatest portion of ocean anyone every had. Bush restricted oil and gas exploration, while also restricting commercial fishing around the multiple remote islands in the central and western Pacific oceans. “Bush has matched the record of some of the nation's most conservation-minded presidents” which is a breakthrough for him. Bush was able to save and preserve the sea and island ecosystems because of his three new marine national monuments. By the end of his term of president, he would have saved and protected more ocean then “any person in history”.