Mr. Bush himself may fairly be said to have become the master of the ostensibly ecofriendly sound bite, offering oversimplified solutions to complex environmental problems and wrapping them in tempting slogans that hide their generally pro-business tilt.
”Healthy Forests,” for instance, describes an initiative aimed mainly at benefiting the timber industry rather than the communities threatened by fire. ”Freedom Car” (to be powered by ”Freedom Fuel”) describes a program to develop a hydrogen-fueled car that, while beguiling in the long term, absolves automakers from making the near-term improvements in fuel economy necessary to reduce oil dependence and the threat of global warming. …[And] ”Clear Skies,” in the come-hither nomenclature favored by the White House. …
The only explanation for what amounts to a willing suspension of history and logic is that American industry, which for 30 years has cried wolf about the costs of major regulatory initiatives — the phaseout of lead in gasoline, catalytic converters on cars, controls on acid rain — has at last found a sympathetic ear in the White House.
It is this reality — the relationship between Mr. Bush and his corporate underwriters — that could give his frustrated critics an opening. …
One of the points they intend to focus on is the administration’s reflexive tendency to interpret the laws in ways that favor private claims over larger public interests. Our own modest hope is that they will also encourage more plain speaking.