I have posted many complaints about the Bush administration’s assault on govermental agencies and regulations intended to protect the environment. (See for example: The Bush Administration Tries to Hide the Global Warming Ball Again with a Gag Order 3/9/07) It has done this by appointing people to head agencies controlling regulation of the environment whose assigned role is undermining the regulatory function of the agency. See, for example, post 4/1/07) The Bush white house has also played a significant role in cover up, suppression and even out and out manipulation of scientific evidence inconsistent with the Bush administration’s hands off policy. The administration did this without restraint because the Republican Congress intentionally looked the other way and because the media failed in its role of being a governmental watchdog. The administration’s policy of ignoring anti trust laws to allow mega mergers has resulted in more and more media outlets being owned or controlled by fewer and fewer people. (See Joseph Goebbels, George Orwell and Myth Busting 11/3/06) An example is the fact that it is reported that Robert Murdoch, owner of British tabloids, Sky Television, the Fox network, the New York Post, Wall Street Journal and chairman of News Corporation is about to gobble up Newsday. As a result the traditional role of the media in investigating and exposing governmental abuses has been abandoned. Instead the media is in lock step with the Republican administration and big business. This has resulted in the administration having its own way without fear of sanction for too many years.

With a change in Congress the situation has changed. ABC News reports that hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists report they have been consistently pressured by superiors to revise their scientific findings when they report environmental issues like global warming. Political pressure has been applied to the point, they reported, in a survey of 1600 scientists, the "agency is in crisis" and "under siege from political pressure" especially when it comes to drafting regulations. Rep. Henry Waxman D-Calif, said the survey results suggest a "pattern of ignoring and manipulating science." Since the Republicans in Congress can no longer protect the EPA from Congressional investigations, the agency is under fire on a number of issues. (See: A Lame Duck Limps Out Continuing to Cause Harm to the Environment 3/5/08) In the meantime, like a growing cancer, the Bush legacy of a contaminated environment continues to threaten our nation. Thanks to cover up, misinformation and an unrestrained oil industry propaganda programs many Americans continue to believe environmental warnings are a left wing plot. Let’s pray that it is not too late to reverse the wrong way policies of this administration.