So Russell H. Train, head of the Environmental
Protection Agency under Republican presidents Nixon and Ford, has
said that Bush’s environmental record is so dismal that he
would vote for Kerry? (“Polluter protection” is how he
characterizes it.) And some readers are howling at
HCN for Bush-bashing? Gimme a break!
Frankly, I’m sick of the ubiquitous cry for cooperation and
collaboration. (Gasp!) It boils down to compromise, and for
environmentalists, that means you shut your pie-hole while we punch
roads into your potential wilderness, we outsource your national
parks, we poison your air and water.
The Bush
administration is hell-bent on doing the most damage it can do to
our environment and public lands (and consequently, our democratic
process) before getting voted out of office this November (not that
it was ever legitimately voted in).
Bush-bashing?
Objective reporting? Agenda-driven editorializing? Whatever. I get
my news from a variety of sources; HCN’s
focus on the West, about which I care passionately, fills a niche
for me. Sure, I get angrier every time a new issue arrives, but in
this age of “No Wild Left Behind,” what does one expect? Now, if
you’ll excuse me, I clearly need the tonic of wilderness.
Kathleen Stachowski
Lolo,
Montana
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline No room for compromise.