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Before the current administration was allowed to take office, the environment may not have been perfect, but due to years of ongoing legislation it was slowly getting better. With numerous agencies to protect the air, water, wilderness, and ozone layer against the majority of harmful devices that industry and civilization has created, we were finally gaining ground on something that is worth protecting, our environment. We had begun to learn that not everything should be up for grabs in our world and that not al1 things are meant to be left to their own accord. There is a time and a place to protect the unprotected and save our environment. Of course, all of these safeguards are slowly becoming unraveled by our current President, George W. Bush. First, to fully understand Bush’s complete disregard for the environment, we must take note of where he came from. At age two George W. Bush moved from his birth place, New Haven, Connecticut, to Midland, Texas where he was to grow up around the oil business. After attending Yale and Harvard, Bush returned to Texas and attempted starting his own oil company. Although his father had made millions in the oil field bush junior did not fair quite as well. Even though he had an exorbitant amount of money given to him from old family friends and deep pocketed investors hoping for political gains in George Bush seniors’ administration, he never seemed able to gain any momentum in this enterprise. In 1978, Bush lost his attempt to win a Congressional election, immediately returning to the oil field to try once more. Once again, thanks to low barrel prices, he failed and had to turn to deep pockets to bail him out. It wasn’t until 1991 when the Persian Gulf emirate of Bahrain struck a deal with Bush’s oil corporation, Harken, that he had any good fortune in the oil business. There were many that believed this was most likely due to his father’s involvement in foreign affairs in Saudi Arabia. Of course, as Molly Ivins and Lou DuBose reports, this was ultimately denied by both Bush junior and Bush senior. You can be assured this was not the one and only time a Bush administration would use government for its own self interests. After numerous attempts in the oil trade, the only real accomplishment for George W. Bush was spending millions of dollars for investors in his failing companies. It is also suggested by Ivins and Dubose that these investors may have been looking for more than just an investment, most of these ventures were made during the time when George Bush senior was running for either president or serving as Ronald Reagan’s vice-president. In 1994 George W. Bush became Governor and offered the people of Texas, in his words, “my version of a modern-day revolution.” Although he had an excellent view on transforming the Texas educational system he never spoke of what was to become of their environmental issues; this was for good reason. The North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation stated that Texas had more pollution than any other state, including both air and water pollution. During Bush’s reign he disbanded those appointed to the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission and selected his own version of environmentalist for these positions. The first commissioner of the three person commission was John Baker, from the Texas Farm Bureau; an agency which in the past has consistently opposed any effort to control the use of pesticides. The second commissioner was to be Ralph Marquez, a former employee of a chemical company and a lobbyist for the Texas Chemical Council. And finally, Barry McBee, a middle aged lawyer straight from the Christian right. Ivins and Dubose also emphasized how these appointees had spent thousands of dollars opposing the new federal air-quality standards enacted in 1997. After serving as Governor of Texas George W. Bush turned his attention towards the presidency.
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