The high priests of eco-destruction

By Michelle Malkin  •  February 22, 2012 07:50 AM

The high priests of eco-destruction
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2012

Rick Santorum is right. Pushing back against Democrats’ attempts to frame him as a religious menace, the GOP presidential candidate forcefully turned the tables on the White House: “When it comes to the management of the Earth, they are the anti-science ones.”

Scrutiny of the White House anti-science brigade couldn’t come at a better time (which is why Santorum’s detractors prefer to froth at the mouth about comments he made four years ago on the existence of Satan). It’s not just big-ticket scandals like the stimulus-subsidized Solyndra bankruptcy or the Keystone pipeline debacle bedeviling America. In every corner of the Obama administration, the radical green machinery is hard at work — destroying jobs, shredding truth and sacrificing our economic well-being at the altar of environmentalism.

–Take Obama’s head of the National Park Service, please. While serving as the Pacific West regional director of the NPS, Jon Jarvis was accused of at least 21 instances of scientific misconduct (pdf) by Dr. Corey Goodman, a high-ranking member of the National Academy of Sciences. Extensive information about Jarvis’ alleged role in cooking data about a California oyster farm’s impact on harbor seals at Point Reyes was withheld during the 2009 nomination process. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has ignored complaints and follow-up from both Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Republican Sens. James Inhofe and David Vitter.

The National Research Council determined that the NPS had “selectively” slanted its report on the oyster farm. The federal Marine Mammal Commission found that “the data and analyses are not sufficient to demonstrate a causal relationship” between the farm’s operations and harbor seal health. In a letter blasting the NPS for bullying the small oyster farm, Feinstein — normally a reliable eco-ally — concluded earlier this month that the “crux of the problem is that the Park Service manipulated science while building a case that the business should be shuttered.”

Given Salazar’s own role in manipulating science while building his case for the White House offshore drilling moratorium — actions for which several federal judges spanked Salazar in the past two years — it’s no wonder he’s looking the other way. Remember: Two years ago, Salazar and former Obama eco-czar Carol Browner falsely rewrote the White House drilling ban report to wholly manipulate the Obama-appointed panel’s own overwhelming scientific objections to the job-killing edict. Despite repeated judicial slaps for their “determined disregard” for the law, the Obama administration continues to suppress documents related to that junk science scandal. Last month, House Republicans threatened to subpoena the Interior Department for information. Call it a greenwash.

Water wars and the Delta smelt. The infamous, endangered three-inch fish and its environmental protectors continue to jeopardize the water supply of more than 25 million Californians. Federal restrictions have cut off some 81 billion gallons of water to farmers and consumers in Central and Southern California. Previous courts have ruled that the federal biological opinions used to justify the water cutoff were invalid and illegal. Last September, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California admonished two federal scientists for acting in “bad faith.” The judge’s blistering rebuke of the Obama administration scientists concluded that their slanted testimony about the delta smelt was “an attempt to mislead and to deceive the Court into accepting what is not only not the best science, it’s not science.”

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, who represents the hard-hit San Joaquin Valley area, noted that Salazar recently “doubled down on the illegal policies of the Department of Interior and attacked critics as narrow minded and politically motivated. Ironically, these were the same basic criticisms levied against his department by the federal court.”

While Salazar manufactures a new biological opinion on the matter to get the courts off his back, unemployment and drought plague the Central Valley. And the White House stands by its “scientists.”

Dams in distress. In Siskiyou County, Calif., local officials and residents announced last week that it intends to sue Salazar and Team Obama over their potential removal of dams on the Klamath River. Once again, the administration’s systematic disregard for sound science and the rule of law is in the spotlight.

Salazar is expected to make a decision by the end of March on environmentalists’ demands that four private hydroelectric dams be demolished to protect salmon habitats and “create” demolition and habitat restoration jobs. Opponents say Salazar has already predetermined the outcome. Green activists blithely ignore the massive taxpayer costs (an estimated half-billion dollars) and downplay the environmental destruction the dam removals would impose. GOP Rep. Tom McClintock put it most charitably: “To tear down four perfectly good hydroelectric dams at enormous cost is insane.”

People of faith aren’t what’s bedeviling America. Blame the high voodoo priests of eco-destruction in Washington who have imposed a green theocracy on us all. Science be damned.

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Comments


  1. #101
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 4:05 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    If you REALLY want to stick it to the Rovian Progressives and the Establishment, vote Santorum Paul.

    Mo’ bettah!

  2. #102
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 4:50 pm, DBNinKY said:

    Oops! Typos on the run -

    …administration’s… .

    bring undo undue hardship to families throughout the coalfields.

  3. #103
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:06 pm, Truesoldier said:

    Speaking of “green” technology. I see that at least one electric car has a serious (not to mention expensive) problem. The Tesla motors electric cars cannot have a fully depleted battery. If that happens the car basically becomes a brick that cannot start or even be pushed. The only fix is to spend $40k to replace the entire battery.

  4. #104
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:15 pm, Republicanvet said:

    On February 22, 2012 at 03:06 pm, Truesoldier said:

    Speaking of “green” technology. I see that at least one electric car has a serious (not to mention expensive) problem. The Tesla motors electric cars cannot have a fully depleted battery. If that happens the car basically becomes a brick that cannot start or even be pushed. The only fix is to spend $40k to replace the entire battery.

    Not to worry. It’ll be like the leftists who bought a Prius. Something they HAD to have, then sue the company because it didn’t get the mileage they thought it should.

  5. #105
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:20 pm, conservative hispanic said:

    Rogue Cheddar:

    When are you going to stop acting like an imbecile and support someone who has actually WON 4 primaries, with more to come? Besides, looks like RP is just another sellout, what with his cozing up to Romney. Maybe been offered the VP slot? Great: another Biden.

  6. #106
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:28 pm, conservative hispanic said:

    Straight_Talk_Luigi:

    You’re an environmental scientist? Man, to the enviro-nuts, YOU’RE PUBLIC ENEMY #1!

    Since you rely on science, not nonsense, YOU MUST BE SILENCED!!!

    This people worship the Mythical Earth. They don’t give a damn about humanity. If I were you, I’d walk around with a flak vest. This people are nuts, after all.

  7. #107
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:40 pm, ChapBix said:

    #38. On February 22nd, 2012 at 11:21 am, conservative hispanic said:

    I concur, as much as I want to see Barky being packed off to prison (not the constitutionally proscribed punishment after being convicted in the Senate; that would have to come elsewhere). Impeachment proceedings would stop at the Senate’s door if it ever got there. Try and visualize what the lame and lazy main stream media would do with that in an election year. That would not work well in dislodging the Marxist-in-Chief in the WH.

  8. #108
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:41 pm, conservative hispanic said:

    Hangfire:

    You just mentioned another couple of reasons why I fear for this country. God, give us the strenght to resist until 1/20/13.

  9. #109
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:47 pm, ChapBix said:

    #45. On February 22nd, 2012 at 11:44 am, thejim said:

    I keep coming back to a question that needs answering. Where are the “Patriots” in government? Either Party? Any branch?

    In my view, Sen. Jim DeMint and those aligned with him are Patriots.

  10. #110
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:53 pm, Ilovemycountry said:

    “the GOP presidential candidate forcefully turned the tables on the White House: “When it comes to the management of the Earth, they are the anti-science ones.”

    Jeez – who wrote this insanity?

  11. #111
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:58 pm, ChapBix said:

    #63. On February 22nd, 2012 at 1:03 pm, happyscrapper said:

    Those of you who pray…please pray for Santorum. He is under attack for his faith. He is being ridiculed for speaking out against EVIL. He needs our prayers so he will have the strength to keep fighting! The same people who ridicule Santorum for his beliefs, think nothing is wrong with those tree-hugging, sobbing morons crying over a dead tree!! Yes, evil has gripped this country and must be defeated by prayer.

    Beware of those who call good, “evil”, and evil, “good”. And you are right on target by asking for prayer for Santorum and his family. I suspect he has been receiving death threats from the unhinged, lunatic left that have gone unreported.

  12. #112
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:58 pm, conservative hispanic said:

    ChapBix:

    Precisely. I’d be the first one to volunteer to haul Barry’s carcass all the way from DC to Leavenwoth, even if it screwed up by back and feet permanently. But it’s not going to happen. Not with 53 lapdogs in the Senate, plus a bunch of supine Republicans. Impeachment is nothing more than a wet dream.

  13. #113
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 6:00 pm, conservative hispanic said:

    ILMC:

    Speaking of Satan’s minions, look who just showed up.

  14. #114
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 6:04 pm, ChapBix said:

    #72. On February 22nd, 2012 at 1:12 pm, happyscrapper said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 12:57 pm, Straight_Talk_Luigi said:
    Furthermore, as an environmental scientist, I can testify to the fact that capitalism has saved the environment so many times over and big-government liberalism will destroy the earth more than anything else.

    Think about how much pollution would be in the air if we hadn’t invented stoves and microwaves. We would be cooking over an open fire! There are so many examples of man’s ingenuity that has SAVED the environment! What has Obama done to save our environment? Invested in government-owned businesses that are all failing. Promoting cars that run on fairy dust and farts. I see another Nobel Prize in his future!!

    Ka-ching!! Ka-ching!!

  15. #115
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 6:09 pm, ChapBix said:

    #112. On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:58 pm, conservative hispanic said:

    While you may be the first to start hauling Barky’s sorry carcass to Leavenworth, you would very quickly be joined by others helping you. This could very easily be a relay race.

  16. #116
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 6:27 pm, thejim said:

    you may be the first to start hauling Barky’s sorry carcass to Leavenworth, you would very quickly be joined by others helping you. This could very easily be a relay race

    A lot like handing off the Olympic torch……good American after good American.

  17. #117
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 6:36 pm, Anil Petra said:

    One need look no further than the Democrats’ refusal to acknowledge the success and utility of free markets, for a demonstration that they are the anti-science party.

  18. #118
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 7:01 pm, Paratus said:

    Wooo Ilovemycountry I thought something happened to you. Are ya learning anything today?
    Uh oh looks like you’re still with that Obama guy, that’s :(
    Did you plug your Volt in today or last night?

  19. #119
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 8:13 pm, MyrmidoNOT said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 7:01 pm, Paratus said: … Did you plug your Volt in today or last night?

    Nah, he’s out of “gas” and sitting on-the-side…about 18 miles from home…

  20. #120
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 8:44 pm, MyrmidoNOT said:

    …oh, and because of his ‘obummer’ bumper sticker,
    NOBODY will ‘stop and provide assistance’…

  21. #121
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 10:11 pm, Hiraghm said:

    Ms Malkin was just on Hannity, where she talked about this column and how the “green” movement is a religious cult. Nice to see that she’s been reading my comments to her blogs! :D

    Now if I can just get her to slip “Green is the New Stupid” or “Green is as Stupid Does” into her commentary on Hannity :D

  22. #122
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 10:16 pm, Hiraghm said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 2:16 pm, Hangfire said:

    Actually, Green is the new RED.

    That’s what I said; Green is the New Stupid :D

  23. #123
    On February 22nd, 2012 at 10:19 pm, Hiraghm said:

    For years I have been shouting from the rooftops that the “green” movement, and globular warming in particular, is a religious cult. We’ve had ample evidence from its adherents. I’m encouraged to see more and more people openly proclaiming that it is a religious cult with all the associated baggage.

    Today Fox Gnus… tomorrow the MSM! (who’m I kidding? :( )

  24. #124
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 12:48 am, Alan K. Henderson said:

    Looking at the Stonehenge pic…OK, whose bright idea was it to cross the Klan robe with a burqa?

  25. #125
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 8:23 am, RedDog said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 1:17 pm, Pasadena Phil said:
    What is most disturbing about the dust up over Santorum’s perfectly proper comments… is the reaction by the Rovian Progressives themselves who quickly piled on….

    I despise these people. Two-faced, fickle and duplicitous, they would have gutted Reagan if the opportunity had presented itself. Coward thy name is RINO.

  26. #126
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 8:59 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:20 pm, conservative hispanic said:
    Rogue Cheddar:

    When are you going to stop acting like an imbecile and support someone who has actually WON 4 primaries, with more to come?

    It’s not the man, it’s the ideas behind the man, that is important. I don’t see active military marching on behalf of your choice.

  27. #127
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 12:17 pm, conservative hispanic said:

    Rogue Cheddar:

    Really? looks like RP is just another sellout. Rush just said Rand Paul has been offered the VP slot, ALLEGEDLY.

  28. #128
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 12:22 pm, NotTheMama said:

    I take a day off and already the threads’ wandering everywhere.

    Removing damns in the NW?   Primarily, damns are built in this region for flood control.   Using them as a hydroelectric source is secondary.

    Remove the damns and they are putting peoples welfare and lives in jeopardy. Oh, wait.  These are liberals wanting to do this.   That’s what they do.

  29. #129
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 12:26 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    Two-faced, fickle and duplicitous, they would have gutted Reagan if the opportunity had presented itself. Coward thy name is RINO.

    The RINOs at the time brushed him aside in ’76 in favor of the vapid Ford, and did their best to foil Reagan in’80 but failed. He was just too popular and with his victory, they begrudgingly held on to his coat tail to get a piece of that popularity. Those RINOs did saddle Reagan with GHWB as VP, even though he wasn’t Reagan’s choice.

  30. #130
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 12:27 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    OK, whose bright idea was it to cross the Klan robe with a burqa?

    Hmm, I thought those outfits were standard Druid apparel.

  31. #131
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 1:37 pm, PD Dave said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:53 pm, Ilovemycountry said:

    Did you even read the column?!! Arguing with liberals is like talking to a brick wall. I have a cousin like this on FB and I occasionally respond to her lunatic posts, but even if I provide links to data which refute her points, she mindlessly follows her messiah BHO.

  32. #132
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 1:39 pm, thejim said:

    In my view, Sen. Jim DeMint and those aligned with him are Patriots.

    Yep, he’s one of the few Patriots in DC, and does make an effort on behalf of the citizenry. I also think Jeff Sessions is a good one.

  33. #133
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 1:56 pm, stillontheroad said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:53 pm, IlovemyNambladad said:
    Don’t you ever get tired of being a Liberal Colon Imp?

  34. #134
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 2:14 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:53 pm, IlovemyNambladad said:
    Don’t you ever get tired of being a Liberal Colon Imp?

    I still suspect ILMC is Doug’s alter ego. Just to drop into threads to rile some of us up for some good ripostes. And it seems to work really good too!

  35. #135
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 2:18 pm, stillontheroad said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 2:14 pm, hawkeye54 said:
    Or Hairy belly or Ruta Bega posing as a I lovemywhatever while tripping on bad Acid or after ingesting some tainted dirt – whichever warps their noodle.

  36. #136
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 3:42 pm, mondamay said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 2:18 pm, stillontheroad said: after ingesting some tainted dirt

    Reminds me of one of Jim Carrey’s best skits on In Living Color.

  37. #137
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 3:45 pm, mondamay said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 3:42 pm, mondamay said: Reminds me of one of Jim Carrey’s best skits on In Living Color.

    Something screwy happened with the link, but the above should work.

  38. #138
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 4:09 pm, mondamay said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 12:27 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    Hmm, I thought those outfits were standard Druid apparel.

    Did anyone in Britain even have white cloth in the Iron Age?

  39. #139
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 4:15 pm, RedDog said:

    This toy Marxist is as dumb as the proverbial bag of hammers.

    Obama: Use ‘algae’ as substitute for oil

    Obama affirmed the need to protect the planet by developing clean energy alternatives, but The Washington Examiner’s Michael Barone argues that he hasn’t been consistent even on that front. “We’ve prohibited a pipeline, the safest way to transport oil, from Canada, but we’re aiding Mexico in offshore drilling, which is riskier, and by a firm that lacks the experience of the U.S. firms we have been trying to prevent drilling in the same body of water,” Barone wrote yesterday. “Does this make any sense at all?”

  40. #140
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 4:51 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 12:27 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    Hmm, I thought those outfits were standard Druid apparel.

    Stonehenge -Spinal Tap

    In ancient times…
    Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
    Lived a strange race of people… the Druids

    No one knows who they were or what they were doing
    But their legacy remains
    Hewn into the living rock… Of Stonehenge

    Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
    Where the banshees live and they do live well
    Stonehenge! Where a man’s a man
    And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan

    Hey!

    Stonehenge! ‘Tis a magic place
    Where the moon doth rise with a dragon’s face
    Stonehenge! Where the virgins lie
    And the prayers of devils fill the midnight sky

    And you my love, won’t you take my hand?
    We’ll go back in time to that mystic land
    Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow
    I will take you there, I will show you how

    Oh!

    And oh how they danced
    The little children of Stonehenge
    Beneath the haunted moon
    For fear that daybreak might come too soon

    And where are they now?
    The little children of Stonehenge
    And what would they say to us?
    If we were here… tonight

  41. #141
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 5:27 pm, spaceycakes said:

    Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow

    one of the best lines in rock music–satire or no.

  42. #142
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 6:20 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:
  43. #143
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 7:18 pm, Hiraghm said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 4:15 pm, RedDog said:

    This toy Marxist is as dumb as the proverbial bag of hammers.

    Obama: Use ‘algae’ as substitute for oil

    Isn’t this how we destroyed the food-chain in “Soylent Green”?

  44. #144
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 7:21 pm, Hiraghm said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 8:59 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On February 22nd, 2012 at 5:20 pm, conservative hispanic said:
    Rogue Cheddar:

    When are you going to stop acting like an imbecile and support someone who has actually WON 4 primaries, with more to come?

    It’s not the man, it’s the ideas behind the man, that is important. I don’t see active military marching on behalf of your choice.

    Although I am loathe to badmouth our military, and question any suggestion of dishonor among them, I have to wonder at the mentality of the military to support Ron Paul…

    It smells an AWFUL lot like Big-n-Large employees supporting a store manager who wants to pay them to sit in the break room watching TV.

  45. #145
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 9:24 pm, Hiraghm said:

    Semi-off-topic:

    An interesting example of leftist double-think…

    I was watching the tv show “Sanctuary” today in order to look at Amanda Tapping (yes I find her very attractive, don’t judge me!).

    In the episode, one member of the Sanctuary crew, a gal born in Mumbai, but raised in the U.S., is searching for another member of the crew in Mumbai. The guy she’s with chastises her for not behaving properly in Mumbai. She counters that she was *born* there. To which he replies that she was born elsewhere, and therefore couldn’t appreciate how to behave properly in Mumbai.

    Yet, it would never ever occur to Tapping or the other producers to think this logic applied to say, Obama, who may have been born here, but was raised in foreign countries with very alien cultures.

    But, I do love her eyes…

  46. #146
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 9:47 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    Although I am loathe to badmouth our military, and question any suggestion of dishonor among them, I have to wonder at the mentality of the military to support Ron Paul…

    Then you haven’t really listened to them as to why.

  47. #147
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 9:50 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    But, I do love her eyes…

    Of course you do. What color are they?

    Hiraghm: ..Humina humina…

    Thought so. :wink:

  48. #148
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 10:09 pm, Hiraghm said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 9:47 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    Although I am loathe to badmouth our military, and question any suggestion of dishonor among them, I have to wonder at the mentality of the military to support Ron Paul…

    Then you haven’t really listened to them as to why.

    You’re right, all I’ve heard is people assert that the military supports him, I haven’t heard any soldiers tell me they support him.

    The only possible explanation, I don’t want to hear; they want the pay and benefits without having to fight our enemies, regardless of what harm that will mean for the U.S.

    Paul doesn’t want to fight our enemies unless and until they are raping grandmothers in Des Moines. And maybe not even then, if we can be blamed for it.

  49. #149
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 10:10 pm, Hiraghm said:

    On February 23rd, 2012 at 9:50 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    But, I do love her eyes…

    Of course you do. What color are they?

    Hiraghm: ..Humina humina…

    Thought so. :wink:

    kind of a jade green…

  50. #150
    On February 23rd, 2012 at 10:14 pm, Hiraghm said:

    To which he replies that she was born raised elsewhere, and therefore couldn’t appreciate how to behave properly in Mumbai.

    Dang it, edit correction…

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