From a reader:
Jonah,
I’m a college professor, and needless to say, I meet and know a lot of people who hate Bush. In the past week, three colleagues in different situations (when they found out that I support Bush) named Bush’s record on the environment as his primary evil. Hearing this same line from unrelated sources made me wonder if I’d missed the talking points memo. But more than that, each of them spoke as though it were personal (“We’re full of lead,” said one, as though this were both factual and Bush’s fault).
Which brings me to my question and my point: what is Bush’s record on the environment and, if it is so bad, what can be done to improve both the perception and the facts? This isn’t like abortion, where the conservative position is clear. The environment should be our concern and if the Republican president isn’t strong on this issue, why not?
Thanks for your time, but don’t post my name (I’m not tenured).