President George W. Bush: “Pale Green” Responses to the Environment?

Authors

  • Byron W. Daynes
  • Glen Sussman

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2008.29.0.371-385

Abstract

George W. Bush suggested during the 2000 campaign for the presidency that he would be an eco-friendly president. During his eight years in the White House, did the president use the power and resources of his office to carry out his campaign rhetoric about protecting the environment? This study examines the Bush approach to environmentalism by focusing on four important perspectives— political communication, legislative leadership, administrative actions, and environmental diplomacy—in an effort to better understand Bush’s environmental record. After a careful evaluation of the Bush presidency and the environmental domain, we offer our judgment about the Bush environmental legacy.

References

Barringer, Felicity. 2008. Court Rejects Clean Air Rules. New York Times, July 11. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/washington/11cnd-clean.html. Accessed July 16, 2008.

Becker, Jo, and Barton Gellman. 2007. Leaving No Tracks. The Washington Post, June 27. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/leaving_no_tracks/. Accessed June 27, 2007.

Brasch, Walt. 2002. Bush-Whacking the Environment. Liberal Opinion Week, April 15, p. 19.

Bush, George W. 2000. Party Platform: Stewardship of our Natural Resources. Republican National Convention, Philadelphia, PA. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/republican/features/platform.00/. Accessed July 7, 2008.

Bush, George W. 2001a. Remarks Announcing Support for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, April 19.

Bush, George W. 2001b. Remarks at Sequoia National Park, California, May 30, in United States, Executive Office of the President, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Week Ending Friday, June 1, 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 37:873, 831-833.

Bush, George W. 2002. Remarks at the President's Environmental Youth Awards Ceremony, April 18, in United States, Executive Office of the President. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Week Ending Friday, April 19, 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 38:649-651.

Bush, George W. 2008. Remarks on Energy and Climate Change, April 16. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Week ending Friday, April 18, 2008. http://frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID= 49127344843 2+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve/. Accessed April 18, 2008.

Bush's Environmental Slate is Business-Heavy. 2001. San Diego Union Tribune, May 12, p. A12.

Daynes, Byron W. 1998. Two Democrats, One Environment: First-Term Efforts of Franklin Roosevelt and Bill Clinton to Shape the Environment. Pp. 105-123 in The New Deal and Public Policy, eds. Byron W. Daynes, William D. Pederson, and Michael P. Riccards. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Daynes, Byron W., and Glen Sussman. 2005. The 'Greenless' Response to Global Warming. Current History 104(686):442.

Department of State, Office of the Spokesman, Washington, DC. 2002. Debt-for-Nature Swaps. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/11495.htm. Accessed June 27, 2002.

Devine, Robert S. 2004. Bush Versus the Environment. New York. Anchor Books.

Egan, Timothy. 2003. Bah, Wilderness! Reopening a Frontier to Development. New York Times, May 4, p. 3.

Eilperin, Juliet. 2008a. Clean-Air Rules Protecting Parks Set to be Eased. Washington Post, May 16. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051502880.html. Accessed June 26, 2008.

Eilperin, Juliet. 2008b. Since '01, Guarding Species is Harder. Washington Post, March 23. http://wwww.washingtonpost.com/. Accessed July 10, 2008.

Eilperin, Juliet. 2008c. Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest. Washington Post, March 14. http://www.washingtonpost.com/. Accessed July 11, 2008.

Eilperin, Juliet, and R. Jeffrey Smith. 2008. EPA Won't Act on Emissions This Year. Washington Post, July 11. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/10/AR2008071003087_p. Accessed July 11, 2008.

Environmental News Service. 2002. World Summit Attracts 106 Leaders, not USA. July 30. http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-30-03.asp. Accessed July 30, 2002.

Fletcher, Michael A., and Juliet Eilperin. 2007. Bush Proposes Talks on Warming: Pre-Summit Speech Marks Shift by U.S. Washington Post, May 31. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/05/31/AR2007053100934.html. Accessed July 1, 2008.

Froomkin, Dan. 2008. Bush's Climate-Change Feint. Washington Post, April 16. http://www.washingtonpost.com/. Accessed April 18, 2008.

Gelbspan, Ross. 2002. Beyond Kyoto Lite. American Prospect (February):26.

Goldstein, Andrew, and Matthew Cooper. 2002. How Green is the White House? April 21. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,232570,00.html. Accessed July 1, 2002.

Greenhouse, Linda. 2007. Justices Say E.P.A. Has power to Act on Harmful Gases. New York Times, April 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/washington/03scotus.html?pag. Accessed July 11, 2008.

Greenhouse, Linda. 2008. Justices Take Case on Navy Use of Sonar. New York Times, June 24. http://www.nytimes.com/. Accessed June 24, 2008.

Jehl, Douglas. 2002. Court Reinstates Ban on Building Forest Roads. December 13. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/national/13FORE.html?todays. Accessed December 13, 2002.

Jehl, Douglas. 2001. EPA to Abandon Arsenic Limits for Water Supply, New York Times, March 21. Proquest. Accessed November 8, 2001; and Bush Will Modify Ban on New Roads for U.S. Forest Service. May 4. Proquest. Accessed November 8, 2001.

Jehl, Douglas. 2003. On Environmental Rules, Bush Sees a Balance, Critics a Threat. New York Times, February 23. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEED8113DF930A15751C0A9659C8B63&scp=1&sq=On%20Environmental%20Rules,%20Bush%20Sees%20a%20Balance,%20Critics%20a%20Threat&st=cse. Accessed July 1, 2008.

Kerry, John F. 2004. Second Bush-Kerry Presidential Debate. October 8. Commission on Presidential Debates.

Knickerbocker, Brad. 2008. Bush Administration Response on Car Mileage Riles Governors. Christian Science Monitor, May 1. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0501/p25s05-sten.html. Accessed September 25, 2008.

Lazaroff, Cat. 2002. EPA Refuses to Delay Diesel Rule. Environmental News Service, August 2. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-02-06.asp. Accessed July 10, 2008.

Loyless, Betsy. 2008. Polar Bear Gets Federal Protection. Audubon Press Releases. http://web1.audubon.org/news/pressRelease.php?id=560. Accessed June 3, 2008.

Luntz, Frank. 2002. The Luntz Memo: The Environment: A Cleaner Safer, Healthier, America. http://www.cleanwateraction.org/publications/LuntzResearch.pdf/. Accessed September 25, 2008.

Marks, Martha, quoted in Robert Devine. 2004. Bush Versus the Environment. New York: Anchor Books.

Marquis, Christopher. 2002. Bush Energy Proposal Seeks to 'Clear Skies' by 2018. New York Times, July 30. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/ fullpage.html?res=9B07EFD81038F933A05754C0A9649C8B63&scp=1&sq=Energy+Proposal+Seeks+to+%91Clear+Skies%92+by+2018&st=nyt. Accessed June 29, 2008.

Massachusetts et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency et al. 2007. 549 U.S. (2007).

Mosely, William G. 2002. Voodoo Environmentalism, Christian Science Monitor, February 27. http://www.scmonitor.com/2002/0227/p09s02-coop.htm. Accessed February 28, 2002.

National Park Service History: National Monument Proclamations. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/hisnps/NPSHistory/monuments.htm. Accessed September 26, 2008.

Natural Resources Defense Council. 2004. Pentagon to Seek More Environmental Exemptions. The Bush Record-Environmental Regulations. http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/other.asp. Accessed March 24, 2008.

Natural Resources Defense Council. 2005. EPA Scuttled Global Warming Videos to Avoid White House Wrath. The Bush Record-Global Warming. http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/airenergy_warming.asp. Accessed March 24, 2008.

Nature Conservancy. $24 Million of Guatemala's Debt Now Slated for Conservation. http://www.nature.org/wherewework/centralamerica/Guatemala/work/art19052.html. Accessed September 25, 2008.

New York Times Editorial. 2008. A Major Setback for Clean Air. New York Times, July 16. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/opinion/16wed3.html?pagewan. Accessed July 16, 2008.

New York Times Editorial. 2008. Whales, Dolphins, Sonar and the Courts. New York Times, August 19. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/opinion/19tue2.html?_r=1&oref. Accessed August 19, 2008.

NNDB. 2008. Condoleezza Rice. http://www.nndb.com/people/205/000024133/. Accessed September 20, 2008. Pianin, Eric. 2002. White Move on Toxic-Chemicals Pact Assailed, Washington Post, April 12, p. A13.

Pope, Carl. 2002. The Mighty Sequoia, Sierra Club, pamphlet.

Red Orbit. 2008. Citizens Voice Concerns over Navy Sonar Use. Daily News, March 12. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1292373/citizens_voice_concerns_over_navy_sonar_use/ index.html. Accessed July 2, 2008.

Seelye, Katharine Q. 2001. Bush is Choosing Industry Insiders to Fill Several Environmental Positions. New York Times, May 12. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/ fullpage.html?res=9904E3D81E3BF931A25756C0A9679C8B63&scp=1&sq=Bush+Picks+Industry+Insiders+to+Fill+Several+Environmental+&st=nyt. Accessed June 19, 2008.

State of North Carolina v. Environmental Protection Agency. 2008. No. 05-1244, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, July 11, 2008.

Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. 2008. Bush Will Seek to End Offshore Oil Drilling Ban. New York Times, June 18. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/washington/18drill.html?scp=4&sq=stolberg&st=nyt. Accessed June 19, 2008.

Sullivan, Rob. 2001. Bush Loves Ecology—At Home. Chicago Tribune, April 29. http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=0510480A-802A-23AD-401C-E362782CE790&IsPrint=True. Accessed September 26, 2008.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2008. Status of Ratification. http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/status_of_ratification/items. Accessed June 3, 2008.

Vig, Norman, and Michael Kraft. 2006. Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century. Washington DC: CQ Press.

Downloads

Published

2009-01-01

Issue

Vol. 29: Winter 2008-2009

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with American Review of Politics agree to the following terms:

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.

  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.

  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:

    1. Attribution: other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;

    2. Non-Commercial: the materials may not be used for commercial purposes;

    3. Share Alike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.

  1. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  2. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.

  3. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.

  1. The Author represents and warrants that:

    1. the Work is the Author’s original work;

    2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;

    3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;

    4. the Work has not previously been published;

    5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and

    6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.

  2. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.