Jodi Peterson

Associate Editor

Today’s Washington Post has a thoroughly-reported account of the myriad ways in which VP Cheney has undercut environmental protections in favor of big business. From the fourth chapter in their series on Cheney:

By combining unwavering ideological positions — such as the priority of economic interests over protected fish — with a deep practical knowledge of the federal bureaucracy, Cheney has made an indelible mark on the administration’s approach to everything from air and water quality to the preservation of national parks and forests.

The story describes many examples of Cheney’s invisible fingerprints:

• The tens of thousands of salmon and steelhead that died in the Klamath in 2002? Cheney had intervened to send water to farmers instead of leaving it in the river. (See our story “Dead fish clog the low-flowing Klamath“.)
• The problem-plagued push to open the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository? This gift to the nuclear industry came largely at the behest of the vice president. (See our story “Sound science in doubt at Yucca Mountain“.)
• And the Bush administration’s attempts to overturn Clinton’s protection of 50 million roadless acres? Cheney’s influence again. (See our story “Clinton-era roadless rule is back … for now“.)

You can read the rest of the evidence of Cheney’s stealth maneuvers yourself. And add it to the sorry legacy of Steven Griles, Scooter Libby, Julie MacDonald, Gale Norton, and the rest of the crew.