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The George W. Bush Regulatory Legacy
Bush assault on public protections
[14 January 2009, Osha Gray Davidson, OMB Watch]
On Jan. 14, OMB Watch released a report that explores the results of the anti-regulatory actions of the Bush administration since Jan. 20, 2001. The report shows that attacks on a variety of common-sense regulations have taken a great toll on the United States. You can read more about the report, or download it, by going to the OMB Watch Website.
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The Environmental President
McCain or Obama?
[6 October 2008, Osha Gray Davidson, Blue Ridge Press]
In 1996, John McCain urged the GOP to embrace the green values of Republican president Teddy Roosevelt, probably the greatest environmental world leader of all time. Barack Obama, on the other hand, is endorsed by the Sierra Club, founded by TR’s wilderness mentor, John Muir. So which of the two candidates can most legitimately lay claim to Teddy Roosevelt’s green legacy? (continue reading…)
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Gun Control
The NRA and the 2nd Amendment
[29 June 2008, Osha Gray Davidson, Common Dreams]
“You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.” 
The gun lobby’s testosterone-fueled credo served them well up to this point. With a constitutional right up for grabs, the NRA could, with a whiff of plausibility, portray every attempt to curb gun violence as one small but devious step in the plot to disarm Americans. Post-Heller, the NRA may want to consider a new slogan.
I suggest: “Be careful what you wish for.” (continue reading…)
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In Defense of Scott McClellan
Former Bush press secretary’s memoir is for real(ity)
[29 May 2008, Osha Gray Davidson, Salon.com]
If former White House press secretary Scott McClellan had really penned his memoir to make a pile of money, as current and former administration officials claim, he couldn’t have chosen a worse publisher. (continue reading…)
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Bush Ocean Environmental Policy
Ocean Commission Report Card: “Feds not working to potential”
[June 2008, Osha Gray Davidson, Popular Science]
If you’re like millions of Americans, summertime means heading to the beach with sunscreen and, of course, beach reading in tow. Along with the latest Grisham novel, you may want to bring along something a bit more serious: the current report by the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative (JOCI). It has all the elements of a good thriller—suspense, high-tech gadgetry, villains—and it can help preserve the marvels of the offshore world for future generations to enjoy. (continue reading…)
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Open Ocean Aquaculture & Overfishing
Environmental solution has its problems
[April 2006, Osha Gray Davidson, Popular Science]
“Are you ready to see the future?” Vinny Allocca calls out gleefully, his voice rising from the sun-dappled surface of the Hawaiian sea. Allocca has timed his question perfectly. He’s caught me midstride off the deck of the Ho’ Okupu, a 32-foot commercial workhorse that belongs to his employer, Randy Cates, a fisherman turned fish farmer. My only possible answer to Allocca´s question is the affirmative ker-plunk of my scuba fins hitting the water. (continue reading…)
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“Toxic Gumbo” describes nation’s rivers
Post-Katrina flood waters were filthy – and so are most rivers
[October 2005, Osha Gray Davidson, Grist.com]
Last month, “toxic gumbo” entered the American lexicon with the speed and force of the floodwaters it describes. A LexisNexis search of major U.S. publications doesn’t return a single hit for the phrase in the year before Hurricane Katrina. But in the 30 days after the storm’s landfall, 66 articles contained the phrase. (continue reading…)
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In the Land of Slavery
Inside the dangerous race to liberate tens of thousands of slaves in Brazil
[August 2005, Osha Gray Davidson, Rolling Stone]
Read “In the Land of Slavery”
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Sunset Commission: Bush’s Most Radical Plan Yet
Bush’s hand-picked lobbyists could terminate the EPA
[April 2005, Osha Gray Davidson, Rolling Stone]
If you’ve got something to hide in Washington, the best place to bury it is in the federal budget. The spending plan that President Bush submitted to Congress this year contains 2,000 pages that outline funding to safeguard the environment, protect workers from injury and death, crack down on securities fraud and ensure the safety of prescription drugs. But almost unnoticed in the budget, tucked away in a single paragraph, is a provision that could make every one of those protections a thing of the past. (continue reading…)
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The Ungreening of America: Dirty Secrets
The Bush administration’s war on the environment
[Sept/Oct 2003, Osha Gray Davidson, Mother Jones]
.IN THE EARLY 1980s you didn’t need to be a member of EarthFirst! to know that Ronald Reagan was bad for the environment. You didn’t even have to be especially politically aware. Here was a man who had, after all, publicly stated that most air pollution was caused by plants. (continue reading…)
