Bush vs. the Environment

One shocking area of weakness for the Republicans is the Bush environmental record. To me, the willingness of the Bush administration to drill for oil in environmentally sensitive areas and to support polluting Yellowstone Park with snowmobiles (and on and on and on) is a demonstration of how far the Republicans have strayed from their conservative roots in favor of neo-anarchist libertarianism. The Bush crew is willing to inflict permanent damage on our environment so that they can call themselves "anti-regulators".

Most students of governmental roles agree that the environment is an area where the free market is ill-suited to serve effectively. It's called the tragedy of the commons, though, given the baseness of the current administration, "tragedy of the common" probably fits better.