Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Greens fear last push by Bush After eight years of government that unabashedly placed development over conservation and recreation over environment, watchdog groups say the Bush administration’s last-gasp efforts likely mean more of the same for the northern Rocky Mountains. While this flurry of presidential maneuvering is far from unprecedented – Clinton was accused of similar actions in favor of conservation – environmental groups say Bush’s last-minute changes could have an inordinate impact on public lands in Greater Yellowstone. These changes include efforts to delist the gray wolf, attempts to relax gun laws in national parks and changes to weaken the Endangered Species Act, just to name a few. Ruch said one good candidate for the Congressional Review Act is a regulation that would allow power plants and other big polluters to affect the air in Class I airsheds such as national parks and wilderness areas. But lawmakers might avoid hot-button issues such as guns in parks for fear of political consequences from voters or pro-gun lobbies....

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