The “Toxic Texan” tries to bolster a legacy that will otherwise go down as the worst presidency in the history of these United States. Let the greenwashing begin.
Firmly into the lame duck chapter of George W. Bush’s ill-fated presidency, it appears that he’s hoping to scrape together something–anything–positive to be remembered by. Until now, as we know, he has forged an impeccable record of complete and total failure: domestic policy (economy), foreign policy (Iraq and the rest of the world), the environment (greenhouse gases, air, water, etc.), and every person he’s ever appointed to a position of authority. With nothing left to lose and no need for donations from big polluters, he’s thinking about doing some, as he might put it, conservationing.
NPR: If implemented, President George W. Bush could, with the stroke of a pen, protect vast stretches of U.S. territorial waters from fishing, oil exploration and other forms of commercial development. The initiative could also create some of the largest marine reserves in the world — far larger than national parks like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon.
An array of ocean advocates — both Democrats and Republicans — are urging the White House to forge ahead with the proposals, saying it would enable President Bush to build a “blue legacy” that would make him a major figure in conservation history.
Bush could become the “Teddy Roosevelt of the seas,” conservationists say. President Theodore Roosevelt protected about 230 million acres in new parks and forests, notes Elliott Norse of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Washington. Bush has the chance “to protect more,” he says.
Newsweek: Bush said an order he signed would direct the Commerce and Interior departments to further build up stocks of striped bass and red drum, by working with state and local officials to prohibit sales of the fish caught up to 200 nautical miles out in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.”
The upside is that environmentalists will never buy it–not now, not ever–while any remaining Republicans who still support him will, at long last, part ways. See this comment from a reader of the Wall Street Journal:
“I am long time republican. Our energy policy is a disaster. If Bush does restrict more offshore areas from drilling, he really is an idiot. He has done more to ruin the republican brand than any sitting President.”
Would these efforts be good for the environment? We’re not sure. Some claim that we’ll protect these certain areas while China and others drill into the oil reserves from the sides. Anyone who’s seen There Will Be Blood knows what we’re talking about. Plus, we need oil. The choice of creating marine reserves appears to be motivated purely be a legacy strategy. The reasoning goes like this: no other president is known as “the blue” president, so let’s do that. Never mind that he’ll be known as the slept-through-9/11, illegally-invaded-Iraq, bungled-Katrina-relief, and ushered-a-global-economic-meltdown president.
No manner of environmentalism can salvage this legacy. So why not do something more worthwhile that will actually have an impact on our health and wellbeing? We can think of more issues that can possibly be listed here. To be clear, we’re not necessarily saying he shouldn’t protect these areas. It’s just that since he’s got nothing to lose, why stop there? This presidency calls for a much more ambitious greenwashing effort–the terms “shock” and “awe” come to mind–in order to cleanse even a small portion of its destructive wake.
If you have suggestions for the Bush greenwashing mission, please leave them in the comments. We’d start with about a hundred billion for renewable energy research and development. After all, if our kids and grandkids are footing the bill, it may as well be for something they can use.
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