F R O M T HE E D I TOR
An End to Corruption
now that the democratic party controls both houses of Congress,
the environmental landscape has changed significantly. Environmentalists don’t have to worry so much about blocking bad legislation—
instead, they can start thinking about what they actually want to do.
So what should enviros be wishing for in the new year?
There are a number of issues that call for attention—global warming, declining fish populations, and endangered species, to name just a
few. But a good place to start might be more fundamental: reforming
Congress. Voters last fall named the Iraq war and corruption as the
primary reasons they voted Republicans out. As for the former, Congress will likely let President Bush try to figure his own way out of the
disaster he’s created in Iraq. For the latter, though, they shouldn’t be
nearly so laissez-faire. Enviromentalists in particular have been rightly
outraged by the actions of Bush and Congress. Environmental laws
have been weakened or overlooked, and Bush has consistently given
top jobs at the EPA and the Department of Energy to industry cronies
who are more concerned about padding their profits than safeguarding the health of our citizens or protecting our natural resources.
These special interests, and the lobbyists who do their dirty work, have
grown much too powerful in recent years.
It’s time for a change. In January 2006 Democratic leaders
unveiled the not-so-subtly named Honest Leadership and Open
Government Act. It would tighten rules on lobbying by former legislators, limit gifts and travel from lobbyists, and make many Congressional proceedings more transparent. Ideas to reform Congress are
as old as the institution itself, and many of the more recent ones,
including this act, revolve around congressional earmarks—specific
line items in a spending bill that have become the primary vehicle
for congressional pork or special interest funding. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act won’t completely put a stop to
unfair influence or pork barrel spending—but it’s a start.
It’s likely that the next two years will be characterized more by gridlock
than ground-breaking legislation, as was the case during Clinton’s last two
years in office. Back then, there was no way the Republicans were going to
allow Clinton to claim any major victories; the Democrats will likely give
Bush the same treatment. By the same token, it’s unlikely that Bush will
pander much to the Democrats, and he’ll use his veto power to make it
difficult to pass any comprehensive environmental legislation.
8 | Feb/Mar/07 plentymag.com
But why not reform House and Senate rules so that crucial
environmental legislation isn’t stymied by special interest groups?
Though none of the proposed changes will completely insulate
Congress, we can certainly improve on the current situation. Efforts
to limit the impact of lobbyists and attempts to make the legislative
process more transparent should be pursued.
Representative Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker of the house, has
committed to passing some version of the Honest Leadership and
Open Government Act in the new term. Let’s hope she can pull it
off. Lobbyists who represent companies from Industrial Revolutions past will always have the most money to spend to woo legislators—but as last fall’s election proved, voters have the power to
bounce the lawmakers who listen to them too closely.
One of the worst forms of corruption is the despoliation of our
natural resources, as it usually involves taking things in the public
domain and using them for private gain. If we are ever going to put
our non-renewable resources to their best use, we are going to have to
change the way Congress works; it alone has the power to draft the
legislation that can protect these valuable and irreplaceable goods.
MARK SPELLUN
Editor-in-Chief