Are the Trees Republican?

It won't be long before Christmas decorations will be appearing. Not too many years ago, someone came up with the idea of a talking, moving Christmas tree. I think they became quite popular. What if trees and other living things could really talk? What would they be saying to us?

Robert F. Kennedy, senior attorney for Natural Resources Defense Council and author of "Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy," wrote a commentary this week in the Orlando Sentinel. In the article, Kennedy writes, "...there's no such thing as Democratic or Republican children and it would be tragic if the environment becomes the province of one political party."

Kennedy accuses Bush of being THE worst environmental president in American history. Healthy Forests Act turns our national forests over to the timber industry. Clear Skies dismantles our clean air laws. Polluters are put in charge of agencies that are supposed to protect Americans from pollution. For example, a famously rapacious timber industry lobbyist now runs the forest service. Our public lands are administered by a mining industry lobbyist who believes that public lands are unconstitutional. A utility lobbyist runs the EPA's air division. To run Superfund, Bush appointed a woman whose last job was advising polluters how to evade Superfund. Bush named a Monsanto lobbyist as second in command of the EPA. In all the government regulatory agencies in the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Justice and the EPA, the same tactics have been used.

The foxes are guarding the henhouses.

Superfund has gone bankrupt. Our waterways have gotten more polluted for the first time in over 30 years. Acid rain is increasing. In 19 states, all freshwater fish are now unsafe to eat regularly due to mercury contamination. (The mercury problem could easily be solved by improving 1,100 old coal-burning power plants.) The implications of mercury levels for our unborn future generations are grim.

The White House is allowing industry cronies to poison America's air and waterways and to plunder our public lands. American corporations are underwriting Bush's campaign in hopes that he will win and provide them with more loopholes and increased profits at our expense.

GOTV.....GOTV.....GOTV.....GOTV.....GOTV.....GOTV.....GOTV!!

[Click on the blog title to fo to Kennedy's article.]